More Than You Know
by TheObsessedWriter
Summary: The countries all think that they know everything about America, but they're in for a horrifying surprise. Forced to watch all the creatures he has faced on his own, there is more to America than they know... However, as they watch the memories, trapped in a room, they notice that America isn't with them. If he isn't with them, then where is he? Accepting entries, read bottom note.
1. Lisa

**TheObsessedWriter: Hello people of fanfiction! I am back from the dead and hopefully things will go back on track for me and writing. I actually got a laptop from my mother and I absolutely love her for getting me one. I also graduated, so I am free from high school and will soon be in college. Now on to what is actually important...**

**I know I shouldn't be starting another story as I have other ones that I need to finish considering my long hiatus, but this idea wouldn't leave me alone. More information will be located at the end of the chapter.**

 **PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE AT BOTTOM!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or P.T. Silent Hill**

Chapter 1  
Lisa

It was like I could feel nothing...almost as if I was floating on air without a care in the world. Nothing could harm me, like I was protected by a shield that nothing could get past. I wish this is what the real world was like, but I was only allowed this protection in my dreams. A place that I could escape reality and only focus on things that gave me happiness...

 _England..._

I twitched in my bed that voice seemed to follow me everywhere. Couldn't the bloody idiot leave me alone in my own dreams!?

 _England!_

I rolled over as I tried to ignore the pestering voice and return back to sleep, who knows what the hour was. However, as I tried to go back to sleep, images appeared in front of my eyes. They moved too fast for me to make out what they were, but I noticed a familiar head of blonde hair amongst most of them. Why would he be in these images? In fact, what were these 'visions' anyway?

 _Arthur...help..._

My eyes snapped open at the weak plea along with my human name. Countries never used their human names to address each other unless there was a close relationship between the involved countries. America had stopped calling me Arthur a long time ago...  
Why? Why did I see those images that seemed to slip through my fingers before I had a chance to make sense of them? Why were all of them centered on America? So many questions that I had no answers to. I guess the next best plan of action was to contact the git, and, although I hate to admit it, because I was worried about him. Not many of the countries believed I have magic, but it has never lead me astray. There's a reason for everything as they say. I pushed myself into a sitting position, the blanket falling from my body to rest back on top of the mattress. Glancing at the clock, the numbers read _8:32_ A.M. which meant according to the time difference between London and New York, it was _3:32_ A.M. for America.

My phone was placed in front of the clock, an iPhone, as America insisted that I change from the simple flip phone I had before, stating I needed to keep up with modern times and technology. It took me awhile to understand how to work it, but I still see no reason why I had to change my phone just for the sake that it was one of the newest models out there. Was it worth it calling him, just to make sure he was fine? Would it justify me waking him in the middle of the night just so that it would put my mind at ease? For all I know, the git could be playing one of his silly video games, hyped up on caffeine and sugar. To hell with it, I reached out and grabbed the phone, intent on calling the American.

I remained sitting on my bed as I scrolled through my contacts, searching for America's number before hitting the _call_ button. Holding the phone to my ear, I heard the phone ring, and waited patiently for the lad to answer. It rang a couple times before I was directed to the voicemail.

 _Hello, this is the Hero! Sorry, I can't answer the phone as I am saving the world. Leave a message and I will get back to you right away!_

The message was followed by a beep, allowing me to leave a recorded message. I guess the idiot was actually asleep, surprising considering how often he stays up late.

"America, its England. Please call me back right after you get this message." I sighed deeply as I ended the call. I fell back on to the bed with a light thump, placing the phone right next to me as I stared up at the ceiling.

There was no reason to be worried. He was probably just asleep for once actually, and I was getting worked up with no real evidence that anything was wrong with America. The last time I saw him was at a G8 meeting three months ago, and he looked just fine to me. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Resisting the urge to sigh again, I got up from my place on the bed and realized that it would be best that I get ready for the day. I could always call him later when the time was actually decent for the young American. Walking over to my dresser, I pulled out the clothes I would wear before heading over to the bathroom to take a shower. I closed the door behind me and had set my clothes on top of the toilet before looking into the mirror. Emerald eyes stared back as I thought about the unsettling dream that had occurred. Was I worrying myself over nothing? I shouldn't concern myself with my former colony, he was grown and proved that he could take care of himself before. I guess it was just brotherly instinct that was taking over whether I liked it or not.

Turning away from the reflective glass, I turned on the water to a relatively warm temperature before removing my sleep clothes and stepping into the steady spray of water. I cleaned myself quickly before stepping out and drying with one of the towels. Before I had the chance to change into my clothes, I heard the loud ringtone that signaled to me that I had a message. I wrapped the towel around my waist before leaving the bathroom to go to my bedroom. The phone was exactly where I had left it on the bed and I picked it up before turning it on to see the message.

Expecting it to be a response from America, I opened the text message, but frowned slightly when I saw it was from an unknown person. There was no number, only said that it was unknown. I opened the message and scanned over the words.

 _You weren't the only one to see the visions. All the other countries saw them as well and you will all be involved soon. Tell me, how well do any of you know America? What does he really do outside of those meetings?_

What? I wasn't the only one to see those strange images? The only thing in the message that worried me slightly was what the unknown person implied. That we really didn't know America as well as we thought. How could we not, he practically told all of us what he did every day. If anything, America should be the one to not know _us_ well. The best thing I could do now was to ignore the message until I got all the facts straight, no need to rush to conclusions. I tossed the phone back onto the bed before heading back to the bathroom to change into some clothes. A few minutes later, I walked out of the bathroom in clean clothes back into my bedroom. I grabbed the phone before putting in my right pocket and placed my night clothes messily on the bed.

Before I could head to the kitchen to make myself something to eat, my vision darkened around the edges, threatening to bring me back to unconsciousness. I shook my head a couple times to clear the feeling, a few droplets falling from my damp, blonde hair, but spots appeared before my eyes. If anything, the dizziness only got worse and so had my breathing. Since when did it seem like my lungs had been filled with water? I was forced down to my knees as I turned so that my back could lean against the beige wall. My eyesight was beginning to come in and out of focus and my lungs felt like someone had set them on fire. Eventually, I faded into darkness.

...

I slowly woke up to the feeling that someone had taken sledgehammer and used it to bash my head in a couple of times. My eyes fluttered open a couple of times before I could keep them open. Groaning, I pushed myself up halfway so that I could take in my surroundings. I looked all around me, and felt my breath stop in my throat. I could make out the slumped over figures of the countries that laid unconscious on the floor...if it could even be considered that.

The whole area felt like a black hole, you couldn't make out anything besides the figures on the floor, and you couldn't see any floor or walls. It seemed like you could walk in one direction forever and not make any destination or hit any wall or stopping point. Slowly I began to stand shakily on my feet before my attention was drawn to the moaning of the other people in the room. It seemed like everyone was beginning to wake up, but they will be in for a shock when they discover where we are.

"Ugh, what the 'ell 'appened?" I could already feel annoyance start to settle in as I heard the frog's voice. Of course he would be the first one to wake up, it couldn't be someone sensible like Germany or even Japan.

"Well frog, if I didn't know any better I'd say that even you should know the situation we are in right now." I responded in the most mocking voice I had.

"What was that!? Do you 'ave any idea where we could possibly be, black sheep!?"

"I told you to stop calling me that you French bastard!" I grabbed him by the collar of his blue cape, effectively choking him.

Before we could get any further in our argument, we were separated by a swing of a metal pipe. Both us jump apart before we could be hit, only one person would carry a pipe on them and we turned to face Russia who held a seemingly innocent smile on his face, but the aura he was admitting was very contradicting to his expression.

"How about we try not to fight, comrades? We must try to figure out where we are first, da?" Russia raised his pipe up, as if to intimidate us, needless to say it work.

France and I both glanced at each other before turning our attention back on to the frightening Russian in front of us. We both silently agreed that it was best not to anger the large Russian man that could easily knock us both out with that pipe of his.

"Oui, I apologize for our behavior, Russia." France practically rushed the words out of fear.

"You're right, Russia, its best that we figure out where we are first." I spoke, out of fear and out of common sense. It was in our best interest that we figure out where we were so that we could get out of here.

Russia looked us both over before returning to the other countries that were slowly picking themselves off of the floor. France and I sent a glare towards each other before rejoining the group to help. Germany was already at the front of the large group, counting the number of countries present, as he was sort of the unofficial leader in these types of situations. The only other one that would try to take charge would be America, shouting at the top of his lungs that 'He was the Hero' and it was a part of his job. The stubborn idiot, I could already hear him...wait, actually I didn't hear anything that sounded remotely like him. I looked around me a couple of times, France giving me a questioning look when I glanced in his direction.

"Where's America?" I asked, referring to everyone that was near that also seemed to share my confusion. We all began to look around us, searching for the familiar blonde hair and brown, leather bomber jacket the boy always wore. It was rare to see him without it, like it was a part of him.

"Has anyone seen America? What about you England seeing as you were the first one up." Germany focused his blue eyes on me like I was the one that had all the answers just because I was the first one up.

"I haven't seen the git since the last meeting me had. I tried calling him before we all appeared here, but all I got was voicemail. If he was here, he left before I woke up." I answered, he accepted my answer before addressing the other countries.

"It seems like America is the only one missing then. We have to figure out where we are and then come up with a strategy on how to escape."

"Germany~ Germany~ I'm scared! This place is so dark and scary." I watched as Italy latched himself on to Germany's left arm, clutching the fabric of his military jacket. The auburn haired man had tears already appearing in his tightly closed eyes. How was he a country again?

I could see that his older twin brother, Romano, also known as South Italy, glare at Germany in annoyance, but didn't say anything. The glare on Germany was short lived before it turned on Spain as the cheerful, curly haired brunette enveloped the temperamental Italian in a hug. The latter trying to push the Spaniard away from him, which appeared to be useless.

"Stupid American would leave us on our own without warning." I heard China mutter under his breath before I could feel my anger flare up. America may be an idiot sometimes, but he wouldn't abandon us on our own. However, I just ignored the Chinese man's comment before I noticed a light in the corner of my eye.

"Am I the only one to see a light over there, or am I imagining it?"

Most-if not all-the countries turned towards me before looking in the direction that I was. Sure enough, there was a faint, blue glow that floated in one spot. We all shared a look between each other before I slowly headed toward it. Despite how dangerous it might be, it was better than just standing around, waiting for something to happen. Behind me the others followed, who knows, it might even lead us to America. The only sounds were the echoing of all our footsteps on the dark floor and the soft whimpering from Italy as he held on to Germany. Immediately behind me was France, standing a little too close to me for comfort. I was about to tell him off, but suddenly the blue ball of light disappeared.

We all froze, wondering what was about to happen. Suddenly, it was like we were in a movie theater as in front of us it began to lighten up much like a screen that was about to show a movie.

"This is so unawesome! What the hell is going on!?" The former country known as Prussia exclaimed, pulling on his white hair in confusion about the current events. Just what was going on?

Suddenly, white text appeared on the screen in front of us. Seeing that no one was going to read aloud what was written, I took on the job.

"All of you seem to think that you know what America is really like, but do you really? In actuality, there is more than you know. How many of you know what he does outside of meetings and politics? None of you do." Just what was being implied here?

I resumed reading what was appearing, "America, Alfred F. Jones has a special job that he does that none of you know about. You all shall watch from the beginning to what has currently happened in order to understand."

It remained silent within the room, as I finished reading. No one knew how to take what was just read. What job? And from the beginning? How long had America done this job? Were we about to watch memories of these events? So many questions, and I had a feeling that we were about to get all our answers. Knowing we had little choice but to watch whatever that was about to be shown, we slowly retreated down to the floor. All of us forming our own little groups of people we were most comfortable with. The Axis and Allies was one along with Prussia so Germany could watch him, the Nordics were another, Austria, Hungary, Spain, and Romano was another. Russia's sisters Belarus and Ukraine were seated with Belgium and Netherlands, Liechtenstein and Switzerland was another as Switzerland didn't allow anyone near his little sister. The Baltic countries were another group, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt was another one and surprisingly there was no fighting among Greece and Turkey and both were being very focused. The last group consisted of Hong Kong, South Korea, and Cuba.

The screen began to play something and all of us leaned forward in anticipation. However we were shocked to see America unconscious on a concrete floor in what appeared to be a small room. However, we remained silent and proceeded to watch with careful eyes.

 **America began to regain consciousness, shaking his head before pushing himself into a standing position. He looked around the room in confusion about his location, knowing he didn't belong here.**

 **"What the hell? Where the hell am I!?" He continued to evaluate the room, noticing cockroaches walk across the floor and walls.**

 _ **Watch out. The gap in the door...it's a separate reality.**_

 _ **The only me is me. Are you sure the only you is you?**_

 **The voice made him jump as he looked around for a source, but found none. Ignoring the bugs, he proceeded to the only door available within the room. Slowly turning the knob, America pushed the door open to enter what appeared to be a hallway of a normal house. As he enter, he closed the door behind him and cautiously walked forward, hearing what sounded like a radio playing.**

 **"Hello? Is somebody living here? I'm a little lost." He called out ahead, testing to see if anyone was actually home. No response came as America waited before he decided to keep moving forward.**

 **The hallway was very simple, continuing straight before making a right that led to who knows where. America wasn't very interested in finding out, but knew that he had little choice. America walked slowly, passing an inside plant on his right as well as a clock that displayed** _ **23:59**_ **in red numbers, meaning it was a minute until midnight, military time. The further he walked, the louder the radio got and he stopped to listen to it. It apparently was a police report, and when he heard it, he really wished he hadn't.**

 _ **We regret to report the murder of the wife and her two children by their husband and father, the father purchased the rifle used in the crime at his local gun store two days earlier. This brutal killing took place while the family was gathered at home on a Sunday afternoon. The day of the crime, the father went to the trunk of his car, retrieved the rifle, and shot his wife as she was cleaning up the kitchen after lunch.**_

 _ **When his ten-year-old son came to investigate the commotion, the father shot him, too. His six-year-old daughter had the good sense to hide in the bathroom, but reports suggest he lured her out by telling her it was just a game. The girl was found shot once at point blank range.**_

 _ **The mother, who he shot in the stomach, was pregnant at the time. Police arriving on-scene after neighbors called 911 found the father in his car, listening to the radio. Several days before the murder, neighbors say they heard the father repeating a sequence of numbers in a loud voice. They said it was like he was chanting some strange spell.**_

 _ **There was another family shot to death in the same state last month, and in December last year, a man used a rifle and meat cleaver to murder his entire family. In each case, the perpetrators were fathers. State police say the string of domestic homicides appears unrelated, though it could be part of a larger trend, such as employment, childcare, and other social issues facing the average family.**_

 **America looked like he was going to be sick once the report was finished, especially as the reader read it in such a monotone, uncaring tone didn't help much.**

 **"How could anyone do that to their own family!?" America growled out, hands clenching at his sides. "Why would anyone in their right mind believe that it would be okay to do that!? They were just children!"**

We all looked we were about to be sick ourselves, but the pure anger that showed through America's voice surprised, and frightened, us as well. No family should have to go through that, and you would have to be insane to be the one to do it yourself. The atmosphere within the abandoned, empty house was very tense and definitely had an air of mystery, as well as it being a very creepy place.

 **Pushing down the anger that was boiling over, he continued walking down the hallway only to stop at a table that was placed against the wall on the left and was faintly lit with the hall light. There was a radio turned slightly with the antenna up, most likely broadcasting the police report. At the right end of the table was a framed photo that was taken during a wedding that held the happy couple. Between both ends was an ash tray that had a couple butt ends of cigarettes, a key ring that held keys, some matches, and an opened bar of chocolate that had a couple pieces missing. The only strange thing was that a thick layer of dust rested on top of the table and all the objects on it.**

 **"This place has got to be abandoned..." America muttered, picking up the ring of keys, "No one leaves their house without their keys first of all, and plus, just look at all this dust. It looks like no one has touched this place in forever."**

 **America returned the keys back to their rightful place before observing the rest of the hall way. Framed pictures littered the walls, but all were blurry, making you unable to see what they were. He turned right and walked to what seemed like an entry way with potted plants on either side of a door on the left side. A creaking noise sounded throughout the hall and he quickly looked around for the source. Noticing his shadow move slightly, America looked up to see the chandelier move side to side, the creaking noise matching its rhythm.**

 **"Really? That's what's making all that noise?" America exhaled before moving toward what he guessed was the front door. He turned the knob slowly only to find that he couldn't turn it far, it being locked. Now how was he supposed to get out? This had to be the only exit. He tried the knob a couple more times before giving up and walking to the other door at the end, passing a staircase on his way. Seeing no reason to go up when he was trying to find an escape.**

 **Besides, the dusty stairs seemed to give off a creepy feeling, as if giving him a silent message not to go up to the next level. He turned his head back to the last door available on the first floor. Taking a deep breath in, America turned the door handle and pushed forward. To his surprise, the door actually opened and led him to a short hallway that had another wooden door at the end. Having little choice but to keep going in the same direction, he pushed the other door open and felt his heart stop in his chest.**

 **The door opened to reveal the same hall way that he had just left. The same framed pictures, the same time of** _ **23:59**_ **in the same red numbers. He had just circled back to where he had just been without turning around. The door behind him closed, and as much as he pulled and pushed, the door refused to budge. It seemed like America was trapped within the unknown house.**

"Wait one minute! Where the hell is he anyway!? This place hasn't answered anything!" I rose from my spot slightly in anger. If anything, the house only brought more questions.

"This place looks really scary...did America really walk through it before?" Italy was gripping tightly to Germany's arm, a frightened expression on his face.

Did he really walk in that building? Was there anything inside it? Was America hurt by anything?

Knowing that we weren't going to get any answers by talking, we went back to silence and watched as the events began to unfold in front of us. What would we learn from it?

 **Knowing that the hall had already been searched, America walked briskly and turned the corner to see the same entry way and staircase as well as an opened door at the end. He tried the front door one last time, but it remained lock and he headed toward the open door. Just as he was about a foot away from the door, it slowly shut itself closed. America jerked backwards from the door just as a squeak sounded behind him to reveal that the door that had knocks come from within earlier had now cracked open.**

 **"I know that door was locked when I checked the first time, and it was definitely locked from the inside. Why do I get a bad feeling that this isn't a good idea to be here..."**

 **The closer America got to the suddenly opened door, he saw a flood of cockroaches run from the inside, they scattered around on the walls and floor.**

 **"I see, as soon as this door opens, all the cockroaches come flooding out. That really doesn't reassure me that there is anything good inside." He approached the door so that he could see within the crack, but was met with darkness. "As much as I don't want to go inside, I need to find a way out before I find something undesirable." From the outside, he could hear the loud cries of what was a baby.**

 **As he reached for the door handle and stepped closer, there was movement from inside the room. All that was seen was what looked like to be the form of a woman that was deathly pale with dark hair that grabbed the knob and quickly slammed the door shut. America jumped so far back that his back hit the wall with a face that showed utter fear. His blue eyes were wide with fright and a hand held on to the front of his t-shirt in an iron grasp, the blood leaving his face. All he heard was the previously closed door creak open and he wasted no time running through it.**

We all had released a scream of some sort when the unknown figure had slammed the door, some louder than others. All of us were in a form of shock to see what a fellow country had encountered, and we could already tell that the story was far from over as we watched America run, the look of terror on his face, the same look that we all shared. My concern rose for the boy as in the time that I had known him from when I first found him as a young colony to the man I knew today, he has never allowed his fear to show to others, putting on a brave front. However, right now as we watched the screen, I saw a person scared to death of what was happening right in front of him. I have a feeling we would all react very similar if we were put in the same situation as America.

"Germany! Germany! Please tell me that wasn't real! It was so scary!" Tears left Italy's eyes and he held on to the blonde German for dear life in a bone-crushing hug.

Even France had managed to latch himself on me, his face pale with fright, before I shrugged him off. No need for him to think I wanted his contact with me. I looked around to see that everybody had grabbed on to someone, seeking comfort from what looked like a ghoul of some sort. Even I had no idea what the creature could have possibly been, except for the fact that it took on a humanoid shape. I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat before I forced myself to continue watching my former colony.

 **He slammed the door behind him with his back resting against the wood in the short, simple hallway before he slowly slid down to a sitting position. Cradling his head in his hands, America fought to keep his breathing under control, as well as fight back the tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes. However, his body betrayed him, as tears fell freely down his cheeks.**

 **"W-what was that...that thing!?" America exclaimed, breathing harshly, "I don't-don't know what is w-was, but I gotta get out of here."**

 **Counting slowly to ten within his head, he slowed down his breathing until it was back to normal. He had to repeat a couple of times before he was able to calm his racing heart. He stood on shaky legs before he forced himself to go through the door ahead.**

 **It was what it had been before, the hallway looping over and over, no matter how many times he entered through the same door. He took enough deep breath before walking forward through the same hall.** _ **23:59**_ **still remained on the clock as he passed it, making to turn around the corner before he stopped in his tracks. As he had turned, he had caught a glimpse of something in the middle of the entry way, under the swinging chandelier, before he reversed away. His heart beat began racing once again as he slowly peeked around the corner, confirming his fear.**

 **A lone, white figure stood, leaning slightly to its left, under the light. It seemed to be facing towards the young American, but refused to move. Able to see more of the creature, there was more signs that it was a woman.** _ **Was**_ **being the key term. Despite being paper white, and hideously deformed, it wore a dirtied, white dress that had long sleeves and went to its ankles. There was, however, a large blood stain around the stomach area and the figure was very lanky and tall. It almost reached where the chandelier swung, but in no way did it seem friendly.**

 **"What the hell do I do!? I can't kill whatever it is, I have no weapon on me. Is it just gonna stand there!?" He muttered harshly to himself.**

 **Working up the courage on just running around the creature before it could attack him, America took a step forward. The second he stepped forward, the light flashed a couple times, the figure not moving, before all light in the entry way just disappeared. America stood frozen in shock before he knew that he had to move fast. He bolted through the darkness, intent on finding the door and making a break for it. Arms waving through the dark room, he quickly found the knob and pushed the door open before shutting it behind him. Ignoring the fear that tried to resurface, America continued through the repeatedly seen door into the hallway that had turned into a nightmare. However, he remained unsure on what would be around the corner when he would turn right. Would the creature be there? Would it be closer than it was before? He peeked from around the corner, his face barely showed, but you were able to see blonde strands of hair if you looked from the other side. As he looked, he noticed with great with relief that the creature had disappeared from sight, but it brought more problems to mind. What if it wanted to draw him into a feeling of security just to attack him later? What if it was waiting for him behind the door he would go through? What if it was waiting on the staircase just so that he couldn't see it? So many what ifs…**

 **He couldn't stand here and debate about it and risk getting himself killed…wait, could he die? Countries were immortal as long as they had people to represent, that's why there was personifications of countries in the first place. They represented the people, the cultures and beliefs that they all shared and carried. Shaking his head, he continued on through the hall at a slow, cautious pace. The door that was shut by the creature was now wide open on his right. There seemed to be movement from within with shadows flickering across the wall that was visible to him from his place a couple steps away. Knowing he couldn't walk back from where he came from, America approached the door and almost jumped when he looked inside. On the floor laid a flickering flashlight. He walked in and bent down to receive the only source of light he found that wasn't attached to the walls or ceiling.**

 **He clicked the power switch on the flashlight before it went from flickering to a continuous light that reflected on the tiled wall, cockroaches scattering from the light. Before he could have time to react, the door behind him swung shut. America dashed toward the door, hysterically pulling on the handle for an escape. Suddenly, the cries of an infant could be heard from inside the room which froze America on the spot. He slowly turned around and glanced all over the room, which was a bathroom, looking for a crying child. From the door, there was a white bath tub to his right and a sink and toilet to his left, along with a cabinet with a mirror above the sink. All of the bathroom was in desperate need of cleaning as mold seemed to cover every inch within.**

 **America walked to the sink, avoiding looking in the mirror to see what might be behind him, when cries forced him to look in the sink. What he saw made bile rise to the back of his throat before he swallowed it back down.**

What we saw made all of want to throw up ourselves. It was disturbing to look at from where we were, who knows what it was like for America.

 **A fetus laid in the sink, a bloody mess staining the once white sink by the drain. If observed closely, you would be able to tell that it was very premature. The legs and arms had just started forming and there were no eyes for the baby to see, but the mouth had formed and loud wails could be heard. The neck was stretched longer than what a normal fetus had and a nose was beginning to form on the face.**

 **America stumbled away from the sink, hand covering his mouth to stop from throwing up and tears streaming down his face. Why? Why was he forced to live through this? What had he done to deserve this!? He tried to calm himself, but jumped in fear when footsteps began echoing throughout the hall outside the door…heading toward the bathroom. With each step that echoed, the cries of the fetus only grew louder, calling for its mother.**

" **No! Shut up!" America panicked, wildly looking from the sink to the door, "You're leading it straight to where I am!"**

 **His heart stopped dead in his chest when the footsteps stopped, and the door handle slowly turned itself from the outside force. He backed himself against the grimy wall, his breathing becoming erratic and his pulse sky-rocketing. The door handle was pulled multiple times, but the door didn't open, like something was keeping the creature out. He walked near the door, turning his attention on the wall behind the bath tub, focusing on a hole in the wall. Peering closer to the hole, something was reflected by the flashlight, a glare coming off of it every few seconds before stopping.**

" **That was definitely an eye! The way it reflected the light, almost blinking, but it was completely black…"**

 **A creaking noise soon followed and he turned around with lightning speed to see the door to the hallway open just a crack. He took a deep breath before venturing out into the hall. Not even daring to take a look behind him, he made a mad dash for the door to continue the never ending loop of the hallway.**

 **When he walked into the same hallway, it was almost completely dark and that frightened him. He took small, slow steps and neared the table that had the radio, which had been turned on again.**

 _ **Don't touch that dial now, we're just getting started.**_

 **America made his way to turn the radio off as it didn't help with his current situation, but the next phrase made his arm freeze in mid-air.**

 _ **Look behind you…**_

 _ **I said, look behind you…**_

 **The phrase made a shiver run up America's spine, but he refused to look behind him, knowing he wasn't going to like what he saw. Walking away from the radio down the hall, America kept going straight without looking behind himself. The radio, however, kept saying strange phrases that faded the further he walked away.**

 _ **You can't trust the tap water.**_

 _ **204863…**_

 **He walked through the door into a new loop, the hallway remained dark like it was, no lights being turned back on. He walked forward, his flashlight allowing him to see where he went and was about to pass the table in the foyer when something caught his attention. By the radio was the same photo of the married couple, but it had a message scrawled on it in blue pen.**

' **Gouge it out!' was written above the couple's heads, but a large 'X' was beneath the female figure.**

" **What? Gouge what out? The only thing I can think of would be the eye, but I could be wrong. What purpose would that serve anyway!?"**

 **Taking a quick look around, America picked up one of the matches, lighting it before burning out the right eye of the female in the picture. A loud creak resonated throughout the hall, the sign of a door being opened. He turned around to see that the door that led to a new loop was now wide open. Apparently, if he hadn't burned the eye out of the photo, he would have been stuck in this loop until he had found the way to open the door. America placed the picture back on the table before quickly making his way to and out the door. Entering the next loop, he crept in the hall through the foyer and stopped at one of the walls. Written upon the beige wall was another message that wasn't completed.**

" **I can hear them calling to me from-, calling from where? Actually, you know what, I think I'm better off not knowing. However, I get the feeling that I'll find out the answer whether I like it or not."**

 **Finding nothing else that wasn't there before, he continued on to the next loop.**

We all looked at each other, taking in America's reactions to his situation. If we didn't know better, we'd say that he was remarkably calm where he was, but no one could be if they were really trapped in a place like that. There was no one with him, so why was he so intent on looking brave and acting like this didn't affect him?

"England-san, you are watching this very closely, is something bothering you?" I heard Japan ask from my left, and all the Axis and Allies turned toward me for an answer.

"I'm just confused? Angry? I have so many emotions going through my mind and so many questions. Why is this happening to America first of all, and where is he anyway? Before we were all taken here I tried calling him only to get his voicemail, and before that I had very strange images in my dream."

"Strange images?"

"Yes, they moved too quickly for me to make any sense of them, but I recognized what I think was America in most of them. That was the reason I called him in the first place."

"That is very strange, but I don't think there is anything that you could do at the moment other than watch whatever is happening on the screen. It may give you more clues."

Nodding, I turned my attention back to the screen.

 **Something was off, America noticed, when he walked into the next loop. First off, the hallway was lit up in a strange, red glow that seemed to get brighter if he walked further down the hall and to the right. Did he want to get closer? Did he want to know where that red light might lead to? Grabbing a hold of whatever courage he had left, America quickly turned the corner where the red light seemed to originate from. Above him, where the chandelier had been swinging earlier was now replaced with a hanging refrigerator. Unknown liquid spilled from the lower corner of the refrigerator's door, but he could probably guess that it was blood. It's hard not to recognize blood with all the wars his country had gone too. Walking around where the blood was dripping on to the floor, he was about to walk to the door when muffled, childish screaming stopped him.**

' _ **No…that can't be coming from where I think it is.'**_ **Swallowing thickly, America looked up to where the fridge hung. His fears were now confirmed. The once still fridge was now shaking uncontrollably with muffled screaming, from what sounded like a little girl, that came from inside. The radio was turned on again, giving what sounded like more information from a police report.**

 _ **After killing his family, the father hung himself with a garden hose they had in the garage.**_

 _ **However, as America listened, he could faintly hear a muffled voice say 'umbilical cord' where the radio had said 'garden hose'.**_

 **America's grip on the flashlight tightened, his knuckles turning white. Keeping his eyes forward, he rushed to the door, almost ripping it off its hinges in his haste to get out of the hall. In the new loop the red light remained, giving off an eerie atmosphere. He moved to the foyer, and stopped where the message was written on the wall…another word had been added.**

" **I can hear them calling to me from HELL…" America paled considerably, not liking the way that sounded, but he knew that the longer he stayed in this house the more likely his chance was on encountering the creature. Quickly passing the stairs, America walked through the door, through the short hallway back into the repeating hall. The red light remained, but there was no longer any screaming coming from the little girl.**

 **Approaching where the front door was, he noticed with relief that the refrigerator no longer hung from the ceiling, but was replaced with a swinging red light. Despite that being the only change in the loop, he walked through the door into the next loop. When he entered the next loop, it felt as if he had been on some strong pain medication, the hallway had been distorted. Walking carefully, as it felt like he was on a rocking boat, he gripped on to the wall to keep his balance. However, to anyone else that was watching, the hallway was actually normal. America kept walking until he came across a fallen picture frame to his right that revealed a hole in the wall. Putting his face closer to the wall and peering through the hole, it looked into the bathroom.**

" **This is where that creature looked at me earlier from when I was in the bathroom." America whispered.**

 **Pained moaning came from inside, and the radio echoed throughout the hall.**

 _ **I've got a message for all you folks down there in radio land. Now's the time for action. Our society is rotten to the core.**_

 **Female screaming sounded from inside, but nobody could be seen. The screaming was cut short as the sound of metal and blood splattering the ground hit America's ears. The groaning continued a few seconds longer before it stopped.**

 _ **I'm talking to all the fine, upstanding folks that got their welfare cut, got their jobs pulled out from under 'em. Yeah, you! You know what to do! Now's the time! Do it!**_

 **Stepping away from the peephole, writing was written on the wall above it. 'No turning back now.' A shiver racked America's body, whether from the sudden cold air or fear, he really didn't know. Continuing down the hall, the red light had now vanished and the foyer had a normal light. Passing the base of the stairs, he entered through the door to the never-ending loop filled with nightmares. When entering the hall it seemed brighter, but of course it would with that weird, red light now gone. Hopefully it wouldn't come back anytime soon. He walked through the hall, nothing was added at the front, so he continued onward. Passing the front entrance and the stairs to the door, he grabbed the handle and pulled. However, nothing happened. The door refused to budge from its locked state. Frowning, America tried a few more pulls before giving up and searching for some clue on how to get out. Searching the place, between both doors, he found nothing. He only took a few steps before voices assaulted his hearing.**

 _ **I'm headed there now.**_

 _ **J'y suis dirigé maintenant.***_

 _ **Olen otsikkona siellä nyt.***_

 _ **Ich bin jetzt da geleitet.***_

 _ **I'll call later.**_

 _ **Ti chiamo più tardi.***_

 _ **Watashi wa atode denwa shimasu yo.***_

 _ **Jag ringer senare.***_

 **Trying to ignore all the voices that spoke in so many languages, America pushed forward to the door, fumbling with the knob. The moment he passed through the doorway, it was as if someone had pushed mute on all the voices at the same time. When all those voices had spoken, America didn't know how much longer he could have taken. He pushed the door open and walked through. So far it looked normal by the lighting, but who knows what he would find.**

 **He neared where the clock was located, and noticed a portrait that looked like it was ripped into pieces. Knowing his luck, he had a feeling that his only way out of here was to locate each individual piece and put them in the frame with the lower right corner piece that had been left. America looked in his current area, searching for photo pieces and noticed a piece of paper among the discarded beer cans and bottles below the clock. Grabbing it, he put it in his right pocket on his jacket. Nothing more laid on the floor, so he checked the vase that was to the right of the clock which held a potted plant, which held another slip of paper.**

 **Heading over to the table that held the radio on top of it, America searched for more of the photo. No paper was held on the table, but to his right was a window and when he looked out it he released a scream. Standing on the outside, pale arms leaning against the bars shielding the window was the creature. America stumbled backwards, but the figure resembling a woman remained where it was, however, it twitched rather violently as it leaned against the window. It was more grotesque up close, its eyes were black and stared right at America. The skin was as pale as a white sheet and the short, choppy hair was as black as ink. It was the face that was most disturbing because it held a hunger for the American that was trapped on the inside. Quickly glancing around, America saw a piece of the photo beneath the window. He looked between the window and the floor before ducking to grab the paper and backing away just as fast.**

 **Refusing to look out the window anymore, he continued toward the bathroom and found another piece lodged in a ceiling beam between the foyer and the bathroom, which meant that he had found four pieces so far. There couldn't be too many more because all of the pieces were fairly large and the entire picture was pretty small. He passed the entrance door near the stairs and another piece was found at the base leading toward the door. Five pieces had to be enough, right? America headed back to where the clock was and took the frame off the wall. Slowly, he placed each of the pieces he found in the frame and felt terror freeze his insides. There was one piece still missing.**

" **But where would it be!? Unless…no way, it can't be up there. I refuse to go up the stairs to find the last damn piece. That is pretty much a death sentence." He placed the picture back where it was on the wall.**

 **Taking a step back, he shoved his hands into his pants pockets, deciding whether or not to climb up the stairs. As the hall had been well-lit, the flashlight was turned off and placed in an inside pocket in his jacket, he may need it again.**

 **About to start heading back toward the stairs, America felt something in his left pocket. Pulling it out, he almost cried in relief as it was the last piece of the photo. Having no idea how it got there, but not caring, he grabbed the frame and stuck the last piece in. Practically running to the door to start another loop, he stopped when a baby's laugh rang out. He was frozen in place, fear filling his mind, before he managed to take a few more steps. Another laugh resonated through the hall, and some instinct told him not to turn around. He stood his ground, goosebumps covering every inch of skin, but he did not turn around.**

 **A sudden memory came to mind as he stood still near the table that held the radio and telephone, it was before he had begun this loop. In the short hallway that was through the door by the stairs, but before the door that begun each loop he had noticed something. Writing was now above the door that led to new loops.**

 _ **I'm sorry, Lisa.**_

 **He didn't take much notice of it, as it seemed unimportant at the time, but now that he thought about it, maybe it was another clue. Taking a gamble that could either kill him or allow him to live, he said one simple phrase.**

" **Hello, Lisa."**

 **A third baby laugh sounded after a few seconds before the phone began ringing, which nearly made America jump out of his skin. He looked at the phone, debating on if he should answer it or not, but it soon left a voicemail. A simple message that he knew was meant for him.**

 _ **You have been chosen.**_

 **Deeming it safe to move, America walked around the corner, taking deep breaths to calm his racing nerves. The radio though had been turned on once more, not helping his mental state, but saying the final message it had. The message though was no police report.**

 _ **Dad was such a drag. Every day he'd eat the same kind of food, dress the same, sit in front of the same kind of games… Yeah, he was just that kind of guy. But then one day, he goes and kills us all! He couldn't even be original about the way he did it. I'm not complaining…I was dying of boredom anyway, but guess what? I will be coming back, and I'm bringing my new toys with me.**_

 **That message was no report, if anything it almost sounded like a journal entry from one of the kids that were killed just by the mentioning of the word 'dad'.**

 **As he had turned the corner, America saw the front door wide open and he wasted no time running out. He didn't stop running until he reached a city, street lamps glowing in the middle of the night. No one saw the blonde run, trying to find a hotel for the rest of the night as he waited for day light to return so that he could get back home. And no one saw the look on his face being that he had found out there was more to the world than he knew.**

The screen had faded to black, but we all sat there in shock, taking in what we just witnessed. America had gone through that all alone, no doubt it had to be scarring for him. I didn't even want to think about what he had been 'chosen' for, if it was something as horrifying as this experience.

"America went through that alone…" I muttered, more to myself than anyone in particular, but everyone heard me in the deafening silence.

"None of us like the idea any more than you do, England-san, but we cannot change past events." Japan tried to reassure me.

"Angleterre*, despite what you may think of me, I see Amérique* like my own little brother too. No one should have to go through that." France said quietly so that only I could hear him.

There was much chatter between the different groups of countries, but I was afraid of what we would see next. I guess my biggest fear in watching these memories was if we would see America get hurt. My older brother protective instincts were coming strong, and I don't know how much more I could watch.

I didn't have long to think about it before the screen came to life with another memory. I hoped this one was easier to watch, but I have a feeling that it's only going to get worse from here on out.

To be continued…

Translations:

J'y suis dirigé maintenant. – I'm headed there now. [French]I

Olen otsikkona siellä nyt. – I'm headed there now. [Finnish]

Ich bin jetzt da geleitet. – I'm headed there now. [German]

Ti chiamo più tardi. – I'll call later. [Italian]

Watashi wa atode denwa shimasu yo. – I'll call later. [Japanese]

Jag ringer senare. – I'll call later. [Swedish]

Angleterre – England [French]

Amérique – America [French]

 **TheObsessedWriter: Thank you so much for reading the story, and if any of the translations are wrong, please tell me and I will fix the mistake as soon as possible. Now, PLEASE READ THE NEXT FEW SENTENCES!**

 **IF THERE IS A STORY OR HORROR GAME THAT YOU KNOW OF AND WOULD LIKE TO APPEAR IN ONE OF THIS STORY'S CHAPTER, PLEASE PM ME OR LEAVE THE NAME IN A REVIEW. I MIGHT HAVE TO CHANGE A COUPLE DETAILS SO THAT IT WILL FIT THE CHARACTER(S), BUT I WILL DO MY BEST TO INCLUDE ALL ENTRYS.**

 **Thank you again for reading this story, and please leave a review on your thoughts about it or what I could do to improve it.**

 **~TheObsessedWriter**


	2. A Crooked Man Prologue: Alfred's Room

**TheObsessedWriter: Thank you all to those that favorited, followed, and left reviews! It means a lot to know that I have readers interested in this story. Remember that if you have any requests on what you would like to appear as a chapter, leave the name in a review or PM, and if you can find a site that I can go to that would really help me. I may have to change some details to fit the story and character. Sorry for taking forever on uploading this chapter, but I experienced many problems involving Wi-Fi connections and getting banned from leaving my house for a while. It really is difficult to make sure this chapter is accurate…**

 **Thanks to HetaliaFinland, silverheartlugia2000, DrakoEspada113, Guineapiglily, One girl Revolution2, Lovino and Feliciano, Fairygirl34, SkyGuyMax, and littleflower54276408 for following.**

 **Thanks to HetaliaFinland, silverheartlugia2000, Guineapiglily, Lovino and Feliciano, king of women, and SkyGuyMax for reviewing.**

 **Thanks to Fairygirl34, I am Earth, and SkyGuyMax for favoriting**

 **Thanks to Lovino and Feliciano, and SkyGuyMax for leaving a request**

 **Now, on to the actual chapter…**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or The Crooked Man**

Review from last chapter…

 _The screen had faded to black, but we all sat there in shock, taking in what we just witnessed. America had gone through that all alone, no doubt it had to be scarring for him. I didn't even want to think about what he had been 'chosen' for, if it was something as horrifying as this experience._

" _America went through that alone…" I muttered, more to myself than anyone in particular, but everyone heard me in the deafening silence._

" _None of us like the idea any more than you do, England-san, but we cannot change past events." Japan tried to reassure me._

" _Angleterre*, despite what you may think of me, I see Amérique* like my own little brother too. No one should have to go through that." France said quietly so that only I could hear him._

 _There was much chatter between the different groups of countries, but I was afraid of what we would see next. I guess my biggest fear in watching these memories was if we would see America get hurt. My older brother protective instincts were coming strong, and I don't know how much more I could watch._

 _I didn't have long to think about it before the screen came to life with another memory. I hoped this one was easier to watch, but I have a feeling that it's only going to get worse from here on out._

Chapter 2

A Crooked Man  
Prologue: Alfred's Room

We watched on in sick curiosity to know what else that has happened to America, but it was already beginning to feel difficult to continue. Maybe it's the thought of watching his private life and memories as if it were a movie without his permission, or watching and not being able to help. However, we didn't have much of a choice. I glanced around at the other countries to see they were all watching the screen intently, but we all were huddled a little closer together. That first encounter with such a horrifying creature had really done a number on us. I turned back toward the screen as it began.

 **America took the phone away from his ear as he ended the call to the unknown person and stuffed the cellular device back into his right pocket on his jacket. He let out a deep sigh and looked up to the blue sky above him as he stood outside a hotel, a Holiday Inn to be exact. When he ran from that blasted house, he had managed to find out exactly where he was. From his home in New York, America had ended up in Charleston, South Carolina. Naturally, being in his own land he should have been able to tell where he was, a sort of special connection that each country personification had with their land, but the fear had distracted him. Through the dark night that had slowly lightened to dawn, he had ran until he could barely breathe, and quickly checked into the closest hotel for the rest of the morning. The entire morning he had been in a sort of trance, denying to accept what happened. He guessed that any normal would really, but that didn't make it any easier.**

" **Geez, that guy sure makes things harder with all his questions. I can't stay in a hotel forever, but I'm not so sure I want to go back to New York yet. The other countries might come by, and I'm not sure I can answer any questions they will have…Hell, I just got off the phone with probably one of the only guys that sees right through me."**

 **America had currently been living in a hotel for the past two weeks, and he was barely beginning to get back out into the world. When one experiences the supernatural, something they thought would never exist, and in such a scary way, it tends to make them more fearful and paranoid. He knew that he would need to find a place soon, so he had called someone he knew that he could trust. After all, they knew each other best, and asked for help on finding a place to stay.**

 **It was another reason why he was standing outside in front of the office where you checked in at outside in front of the Holiday Inn. He was waiting for his ride because apparently there was an apartment he could stay at until they found a better one, it was definitely cheaper than to continue staying at a hotel. This unintended vacation was really just a time for him to think about what he had been through and recover mentally and emotionally. Twenty minutes had passed by, and America was thinking about going back inside where at least it was cooler than standing around in the high sun, the time being past noon. Before he could head back in though, a dark blue vehicle pulled up and the passenger's window rolled down revealing the one America called. America gave a small smile before opening the door and sliding into the seat.**

" **Hey bro! It's about time you got here!" He turned to his brother, Canada, who sat in the driver's seat and was already pulling the car out of the Holiday Inn parking lot.**

"… **Al, what's going on?" Was the response Canada gave his younger twin brother, keeping his eyes on the road. It was a quiet, but tense question.**

 **America shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but refused to look at his brother and remained looking out the window. He had a feeling that Canada would question about his strange behavior, especially since he was the first one to call him. While he was staying in the hotel, Canada had felt something very suspicious happening to his brother and had called his home phone in New York a couple times to check on him. When he hadn't answered, he began calling his cell phone, but was also denied for the first few days. Soon after though, America called back, but was asking for help on finding an apartment he could stay at for a little while. Canada had assured him that he knew a friend that could help because the guy was friends with the landlady of a series of unused apartments. The cost was cheap as well, so that was an added bonus. However, with the strange conversation that occurred with his brother, Canada got on the soonest flight to South Carolina, America. If anything, he was going to get some answers. America wasn't sure if he could handle Canada's questioning at the moment, but perhaps he could be vague enough to satisfy his twin.**

" **It's really no big deal, Matt. I got a little bored in New York is all, and felt like going someplace different. Consider it a vacation of sorts!" America gave his best Hollywood smile.**

" **Al, you don't just go on vacation randomly. You always drag someone along with you, and if you were finding a place to stay at, you wouldn't need my help. So, I'll ask again:** _ **what is going on?**_ **" There was a tone in Canada's voice that seemed to say 'you tell the truth now, or so help me I will injure you greatly'.**

 **America tensed at the sentence, but also felt his anger rise as well. He knew that his brother was just concerned about his wellbeing, but it didn't mean that he needed to be in his business! He would tell him if he felt like it, and right now, he didn't feel like talking about it!**

" **Back off, dude! I gave you an answer, and you didn't like what I told you. That's not my problem whether you believe me or not, but if I don't feel like talking to you then the least you can do is drive me to where ever the hell this damn apartment is and leave me alone. You didn't have to be here, you could have told me the address and I would've gotten a cab or something." America growled out at Canada before continuing to look out the window.**

 **In the back of his mind, America knew what he said was hurtful, but this was his problem to deal with and Canada was really beginning to tick him off. Canada really did care for him, even if the other countries tended to forget about him, but the twins shared a special bond. One always felt if something was wrong with the other, it was a special link that the twins shared. However, it felt as if America was putting up a wall between them now, and it honestly scared Canada. Violet eyes glanced sideways at America briefly as Canada spoke.**

" **I'm just worried about you." He whispered, "I called many times, but you never picked up. Then when you actually call back, you're trying to find a place to stay? Refusing to tell me anything? Tell me, wouldn't you react the same way if it was me hiding all these secrets?"**

 **America didn't respond, and the drive remained silent the whole way to where the apartment was located. As much as it pained him, America knew that it was best not to involve Canada in something that was possibly dangerous.**

I watched the scene in both shock and anger, America was refusing help that looked like he needed. The brothers' relationship was also beginning to look strained, I could tell. France and I shared a look before we both came to a realization: where was Canada?

"Where is Canada?" I asked, looking around in search of the quiet blonde.

"Who?" Was most of the responses I got from the countries, but some were actually close to the young Canadian and also looked confused about where he could be.

It seemed as though he was also missing aside from America, hopefully they were together and would be found soon. We continued to watch, but my concern would not go away. Letting out a sigh, I knew it was better to pay attention to what was happening than let myself focus on worrying, but that was easier said than done.

 **Soon they arrived at a property that contained apartments with a young woman that was standing at the entrance. She looked very professional with styled, dark brown hair that reached a little past her shoulders and wearing a light purple skirt and matching jacket. Underneath was a white blouse and she wore beige flat shoes that had begun to tap impatiently for the North American brothers to arrive. After parking, they walked up to her and greeted each other.**

" **It's about time, Matthew! I've been waiting here for what seems like forever. Is this the brother you were talking about, the one who wants to rent the apartment?"**

" **Ah-yes! Thank you for meeting us out here, I really appreciate it." America gave her a smile as he shook her hand. "I'm Alfred Jones, and you are?"**

" **Marion Floyd, I'm surprised someone wanted to rent an apartment from here in the first place, it's not exactly five stars…" Marion trailed off, trying not to discourage America about the place.**

" **It's alright, it's only a temporary home for me."**

" **Well, let's get you settled in and a contract with the landlady set up." She smiled as she led both boys through the entrance to settle business.**

…

 **After everything was paid for and organized, Marion showed America the apartment in which he would be staying, and he'll admit that it wasn't the most ideal location, it was better than nothing. Furniture was already in the room, and Marion and Canada both helped America move things around so that it looked decent enough to live in from the previous tenant. Soon, all three just stood together and looked around the room, making sure that everything look organized.**

" **Whew! Finally, things look tidy in here!" Canada remarked, double checking the room, and also sparing a glance towards America. If he noticed, he had refused to acknowledge it.**

" **That should be that. Is there anything else we can help with, Alfred?" Marion asked, not noticing the concern that Canada seemed to be giving.**

" **Nah, I'm fine. Sorry for making you guys help me move…And thanks for showing me the place, Marion. I'll have to pay you back sometime!" All America wanted now was to be left alone so he could sort out his thoughts, but he wasn't going to be rude the person that showed him the place. Canada? Yeah, he could be rude to his brother if he needed to.**

" **I look forward to it already!" Marion laughed, "Well, we'd better get going." America was pretty sure that he could hug her when she said that, finally he could be left alone with no brother hanging over him.**

" **Got it. Be careful, you two." America spoke to both of them. Having little choice but to leave, Canada gave an exasperated sigh and followed after Marion through the apartment's door. He wasn't going to stay if America didn't want him, actually he wasn't going to stay if America wasn't going to give him any answers. As he closed the door behind him, America took the chance to observe his new, temporary home. From the entrance to the main room, it was split between a bedroom and the kitchen. To his right was a bed that had clean, white sheets spread over the mattress with a single pillow that laid against the head rest of the metal bed frame. In front of him was a simple, wooden, square table with four green chairs around it and the kitchen sink and counter was against the wall on the far left. Next to the counter also against the wall was a white refrigerator, and further to the right was a large, dark brown cabinet that held some dish ware that was already left from the previous tenant. Going along the wall from the cabinet, a television set was located with a noticeably large crack in the wall behind it and a dresser next to it. On the top of the dresser was a box of Kleenex and a cream colored home phone, and a trash can to the right of it. A window was above the sink and another was above the dresser, and a clock hung above the TV on the wall.**

 **America was about to further inspect his new apartment, when a glare shined from the table and America walked closer. Picking up a plastic card, he read the name printed on it: Matthew Williams, HT: 5'9'', Hair: blonde, Eyes: blue and a picture was printed on the left side of his brother. The eye color made him laugh slightly, his brother's eyes weren't exactly blue or purple, more like a deep indigo, but they probably couldn't exactly put that on the license. Knowing he had to give it back to his brother before he left, America headed out the door and through the small hallway that led to two more rooms before making it to the front door. However, voices stopped him from opening the door. He held his head against the door, eavesdropping on the two talking outside the apartment.**

"… **What's with that place, seriously? It's filthy! It's practically falling apart! What were you thinking?!" Marion's voice drifted through the hall outside the door.**

" **He wanted to move for a change of pace, and that will NOT help him, you hear?" Canada's voice soon followed after, in what seemed to be a disagreement.**

" **Look, what can I do? He's not the richest guy, y'know… Can't even afford much furniture… Besides, you told me to look for the place right?!"**

"… **You're right… I'm sorry. I just wanted to help Alfred out…"**

"… **I know. Look, I should be sorry. We'll come by to check on him sometime soon…" The voices grew distant as the footsteps began to fade away, signaling that they had left. America pulled away from the door, turning his back to it.**

"… **The license can wait, I guess. Better get to bed." America muttered to himself, walking to the room to his left. Might as well check out the rest of the apartment first before going to sleep. He opened the door to see a pretty bare room with a wardrobe on the far left of the room in the corner. To the right of it there was a desk and chair with, surprisingly, a computer that was left behind and a wastebasket to the right of the desk.**

" **Why would they leave a computer behind? Actually, they left a lot of stuff…a TV, all the furniture, and now this computer? What happened?"**

 **Shaking his head, he left the room and went across the hall and entered through the other door which revealed the bathroom. It had everything a bathroom needed, a sink, bathtub, toilet, so nothing was out of order. Knowing that it was getting late into the night, America returned back to the bedroom, but as soon as he stepped through the door the phone began ringing.**

" **Who would be calling, no one knows this number…I don't even know the number!" He let out a long sigh before moving toward the phone, picking up the receiver he answered, "Hello?...Hello?...Who is this?"**

 _ **...**_

"… **Shirley? I'm sorry, but I think you got th-"America was cut off from the other end of the conversation. Listening a while longer, he soon put up the phone back into the holder.**

" **Well, alright then. That was a little strange. I'll just call it a day… I should take it easy for my first day in the new place."**

 **He put the strange call to the back of his mind as he removed his shoes before climbing into the bed, exhaustion hitting him full force. It was like seconds before he fell into a light sleep.**

"… **Man, I'm tired…"**

…

 **It was still dark when he was woken in the middle of the night by a strange sound. Panic was his first reaction on what it could be as it sounded very familiar to what he heard in the house he was trapped in. However, logic convinced him that since he was in a city surrounded by more people that he wouldn't be put into a similar situation. The noise though really was making it difficult for him to go back to sleep.**

' **Really…Is that somebody crying?...I can't sleep through this.' America thought as he laid in bed. He remained there before deciding that he needed to know if someone actually needed help, his hero instincts slowly coming back since they vanished during his nightmare-turned-reality ordeal.**

'… **Is it one of my neighbors?'**

 **After getting out of bed, he slipped his shoes back on before making his way out the door into the hallway. America first went to the door to his right,** _ **Room 206**_ **, and knocked a couple times. There was no response, so turning around he went to the doors on the other side of his room. With his room being** _ **Room 205,**_ **he skipped over to** _ **Room 204**_ **and knocked. He still got no response and moved on to** _ **Room 203.**_ **He knocked on the wooden door and still received no response, which left only one room left,** _ **Room 202.**_ **He knocked, and was greeted with an irritated women's voice from the inside.**

" **Yes…? Who is it, at this hour?"**

" **Pardon me. It's just… I can hear you from my room even. It's making it hard to sleep. Would you stop?" America asked as kindly as he could, having not slept enough to make his mood good.**

"… **Huh? What're you saying? I was asleep until YOU woke me up! You trying to start something?" America backed away from the door slightly at the woman's accusation of him trying to start a fight, "You're the guy who moved into** _ **205,**_ **right? There's no way you'd hear me from there!"**

"… **Er… I guess so…" Walking away from the door, he quickly apologized to the unknown woman, "S-sorry for waking you! Bye now!"**

 **As America walked back to his room, he glanced at the distance between his room and** _ **Room 202**_ **where the woman stayed in.**

" **She's right…the rooms are pretty far apart. More importantly, it was a man's voice… Was it just my imagination?"**

" **Whatever… I better get back to sleep."**

 **America entered his apartment, but a sound stopped him from continuing on further. From what it sounded like, it sounded like running water and since it sounded close, he guessed it was coming from the bathroom. Slowly approaching the door, he pushed it open cautiously and peered inside. The sink faucet was turned on, the hot water steam covered the mirror above it.**

" **Yikes, the water…! Is the faucet busted?" Turning the handle, he managed to get the water shut off. "…Hm?"**

 **The sight on the mirror made America want to run and hide. On the mirror was written 'Under the bed' in the steam.**

' **No, no, no! This is totally not happening right now! I just got out of a nightmare only to walk straight into a new one!'**

 **America took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself before trying to think about the situation. His brother and Marion had helped him get settled in, and he wouldn't put it past Canada to prank him like this because he wouldn't answer any of his questions. Probably trying to scare him into talking.**

" **Is Mattie trying to prank me? 'Under the bed'…? Talk about bad taste…"**

 **America left the bathroom and headed back to his bedroom. As he walked in, he thought about whether or not to check under the bed. If anything, it would put his mind to rest instead of wondering about it for the rest of the night. Knowing it couldn't hurt to look, he crouched down on to his knees and reached under with his right arm.**

"… **Under the bed, huh… What's down here?" He moved his arm until he felt something brush at his fingertips, "…Hm? Found something…"**

 **He pulled his arm back and looked to see that he had grabbed a piece of paper from what he guessed that came from a notebook. Uncrumpling the paper, he noticed writing and read what was written.**

" _ **Ever since she went away, I've spent every night clutching my sweaty pillow and writhing, I can't say goodbye. What other choice do I have?**_ **"**

"… **What's this? Did the former tenant leave this? …Oh, whatever… I'll get to bed."**

 **America shoved the paper in his pocket before climbing back into bed. Despite feeling uneasy, he managed to fall asleep and slept through a couple more hours before being woken up again.**

'… **That sound still…? Where is that coming from? Gimme a break, I need to sleep…' America thought through a sleep induced haze.**

 **It didn't take very long before he fell back asleep for the rest of the night, no sounds waking him from his slumber. A sharp ringing coerced him awake, and the bright light of morning made him immediately close his eyes back again. With a groan, America forced himself out of bed before stumbling to the phone and answering.**

" **Hello?"**

…

" **Uh, yeah… Thanks for all the…" It was best for him to just go along with the conversation, it was not the first odd phone call he had received since being in this apartment.**

…

"… **No… No, I didn't mean… Just… I'm busy with work, so…" That was the pathetic excuse America could give.**

…

"… **Yes, I'll come visit today… Tell her that for me." As the words came out, America could only shrug mainly to himself as he had no clue what he was doing. "Okay, bye."**

 **Putting the phone back into the stand, America brought a hand to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.**

" **What have I gotten myself into… Man, I slept in to noon…" America said as he glanced up at the clock that hung above the TV set. "…I'd better go. So much for taking it easy…"**

 **Making sure he had the apartment key, America walked to the bed to slip on his shoes.**

' **Let's see… I'm pretty sure that the hospital is a good 20 minute walk, which reminds me that I need to rent a car just so that I don't have to walk everywhere.' America thought as he grabbed his jacket and threw it on, walking to the door. As he opened the door, it revealed Canada with a hand raised to knock. Both just stared at each other not knowing what to say as Canada slowly lowered his hand.**

" **Oh…um…" Was Canada's lame greeting.**

" **Mattie? What is it?" Came America's slightly cold response.**

" **Y-yeah, uh… I forgot my license yesterday… Was it on the table?"**

" **Oh yeah, this. Sorry, I was going to bring it to you, but…" There was one reason he didn't bring it to him right away, the minor argument he had earlier in the day while being picked up was the main one.**

" **Whew, thanks! …So, you going somewhere?" Canada gave a slight tilt of the head showing his confusion.**

 **The question made America feel a little ticked off. "I don't see how it is any of your business,** _ **bro.**_ **You may be the older brother, but I'm not obligated to tell you everything! Yes, you picked me up from a hotel cause I asked, but that's no reason to interrogate me about whatever!" America slammed the door behind him before trying to maneuver around Canada.**

 **Canada opened his mouth to presumably object, but soon closed it, rethinking his response. "…I see. Take care of yourself then."**

 **Just as he was about to walk away, America remembered something from the night before and called out to Canada to stop. "Oh yeah, Mattie… Did you write something on the bathroom mirror?"**

 **There was a flash of annoyance that crossed Canada's face before he replied, "…Huh? Write on the mirror? What kind of childish brat do you take me for, Al?"**

" **Whatever, no need to go all defensive on me…" The last part was whispered to himself, but he didn't care if Canada heard. "Anyway, I'm off." America brushed past Canada without so much as a backward glance, as the northern brother just sighed exhaustedly before following after to the exit at a distance.**

There was a tense silence between the watching countries as they watched the North American brothers go their separate ways. America heading off to an unknown destination to the countries from the mysterious phone call. Canada probably heading to his car to return to his temporary residence, despite the obvious need to follow after his brother.

"I was unaware that Canada was the older brother between the two." Germany brought up.

"Oui*, 'is birthday is three days before Amérique's*. Although, I'm more concerned about the strained relationship between the two at the moment, I didn't think 'e would talk to Matthew like that." France and England both shared a look.

"It's nice to know that Amerika* suffers like this, for him to drop his defenses…" Russia interjected with a small smile gracing his face. The smile sent shivers down the other countries spines, as they awkwardly changed the subject.

"…Anyway, what the hell is America's problem to treat Mattie like that!?" Prussia defended Canada, "I mean he's just worried about him, if it was West, I would go beat the crap out of whoever it was!"

"Bruder*, what are you talking about? Are you close with Canada?"

"Totally! Mattie is awesome to hang out with, and you should know that I only let awesome people hang out with me, but not as awesome as me though. No one can beat my awesomeness!"

"Well, he did just survive through a traumatizing ordeal, and is apparently is being forced into another. It would make sense for him to be very cold towards Matthew, it's how he dealt with pain when younger. Brush it off and say he's fine." England gave his explanation about America's behavior to the best of his ability. He was gone most of the time when raising America as his country was across the sea.

"I still think it's a little rude to treat him like that when he's trying to help." Austria put his two cents in, appalled by the manners of the young country.

"It's okay Austria, you still have to remember that America is a very young country compared to the rest of us." Hungary told Austria, but the phrase made every country think about it.

America really was the youngest country among them, and was already a superpower in today's world, beating Russia out of his previous status. Going through a revolution, a civil war, and two world wars is something impressive considering his young age. Although over 200 years is hardly considered young, but to immortal countries it is.

"Let's just continue watching." Japan redirected their focus back to the screen.

 **America walked through the white hallways of a hospital, watching some patients go through the halls in wheelchairs and many doctors waiting to be called. He passed by many rooms, some of which were either empty, closed doors or a patient lying in bed or walking around within the room. Walking up to a couple doors, he checked the names on the plates beside the door until he found the name he was looking for. However, as he passed by a couple, screaming would erupt from inside the rooms. He had to keep moving forward though. America entered the last room at the end of the hallway. Inside was an elderly woman laying in bed, long gray hair splayed out on the pillow. To the left of the bed was a dresser that had a clock and what seemed to be a photo, but the light's glare made it impossible for him to see the faces of the people. Not knowing what else to do, America walked up to the bedside and began talking to the woman, acting out the scenario that was brought up from the phone call. The doctor was trying to reach her son, and had instead managed to call America, but he had decided to help out hoping it would help the woman with her mental illness. Well, he was gonna give it a shot.**

"… **Mom… It's been a while. Are you doing okay?" America began uneasily, this may not have been the best plan after all.**

"… **Oh my… If it isn't little Timmy! You've certainly grown…" The woman turned to look at America from the bed.**

' **Timmy? That wasn't the name the doctor told me, but it's best to play along for now…' America thought.**

"… **Good, you look healthy. Sorry I can't see you very much… I've been busy with work. But I took a few days off… So I moved to this great room, with furniture and everything!"**

' **Well, aside from mysterious happenings going on around where I'm staying at, it's a** _ **great**_ **apartment…'**

" **My… That's wonderful… Get along with Linda, will you? All that fighting you do worries me so… Maybe I can come visit you sometime?... You like apple pie, don't you? I'll make the best I know how…" The excitement that came through her voice made America feel even worse about what he was doing. Lying and saying he was her son just because the doctor told him it might help her recovery. Taking a deep breath, America continued the conversation.**

"… **Mom, I'm not Timmy… I'm your son, David! Remember…?" However, she didn't hear the words he said, and continued talking as if they had known each other for the longest time and were talking about something as simple as the weather and not in a hospital.**

" **Oh yes, they opened a bakery the other day! It smells wonderful! Maybe I should buy from there…"**

"… **Mom…" America began, close to telling the truth about the situation. He couldn't do this. This kind woman was suffering from Alzheimer's and here he was pretending to be her son. Wasting away in a hospital until her son actually visited her, it hit a little too close to home for America. Reminding him of his own mother, Native America, before she passed away as the Europeans explored the land and began claiming territory. Watching her die before his eyes during the time before he was even a colony under England's care. However, he didn't get the chance, as it seemed like her personality did a flip.**

"… **Oh? Who would you be…? Why are you here…? How did you get in? This is my room… Do you have the wrong room…? W-who ARE you!? Say something, will you!?"**

"… **M-m.." America was trying to say, but couldn't make the words come out, but he couldn't say much more as she quickly got out of bed to stand in front of him. Leaning quite heavily on the wall for support, but her anger and fear not subsiding.**

" **GET OUT! I'LL HAVE YOU THROWN OUT! Somebody! SOMEBODY! There's a strange man in my room! Get rid of him. NOW!" She shouted as loud as she could, and America could hear the hustling of people rushing to get to the room just outside the door before a small group that involved two nurses came in.**

" **Mrs. Hoover!" A blonde, female nurse was the first to enter and quickly moved to the woman, "Mrs. Hoover, don't strain yourself… Please, go to sleep, okay?" She was followed by a dark haired nurse, and both were on either sides of her. As they tried to calm the situation down, it only made it worse.**

" **Who are YOU!? Don't touch me! GET AWAY!" Mrs. Hoover screamed, trying to keep her distance from the unfamiliar to her people.**

" **Now, calm down, miss… Let's get you into bed…" The second nurse tried to convince her to allow him to walk her back to the bed as the blonde nurse talked to America.**

" **I'm sorry, 'David'. Leave 'your mother' to us… You'll have to leave for today."**

 **As guilty as he might feel for thinking it, America was glad to leave the room after all this lying that was happening. He wasn't going to ruin whatever memory she had left of her son.**

"… **Understood. Take good care of her…" America began to walk towards the exit, not noticing the sympathetic looks he got from the nurses that knew the situation he was put into by the doctor in charge of Mrs. Hoover. Before he could reach the door, he was stopped by the voice of Mrs. Hoover calling to him…actually, more calling to her son who she thought he was.**

"… **Davey? Is that my Davey boy? Where are you going? Why are you leaving me…?"**

 **The recognition made America turn around in surprise that she actually remembered her son, but the hope was shot down as he reminded himself that he was not her son. This just made the guilt worse.**

"… **Your flight school exams are coming up… You want to be a pilot, don't you? Your mother always has your back… Please don't leave me alone… I don't want to be alone here… Davey… Please…"**

 **The plea in her voice was just too much for America, turning his back, he fled from the room. Not looking back until the door was closed as he leaned up against it. A loud, high pitched scream soon followed after, making him jump from the sudden sound that was followed by the voice of one of the nurses.**

" **Mrs. Hoover, please calm down!" The sound of a vase being thrown was heard, "Bring the sedatives!"**

 **He took it as his cue to leave, and hurriedly walked down the never ending white hallways of the hospital and was met with an older looking doctor at the end of it near the exit. The white lab coat swayed slightly as he walked to meet up with America. His hair was beginning to gray, darker in the front and lightened to a near white color close to the ends. His face was worn from the duties of being a doctor, along with a beard that was starting to show on his face, the same dark gray as his hair. As he stood in front of America, he reached his right hand out to shake his in a greeting.**

" **Hello, Mr. Jones. I'm sorry about making you come out here for Mrs. Hoover. I thought that since you shared similar characteristics to her son that we were trying to reach that you might be able to help her recovery. It seems I was wrong, and I would like to formally apologize for even thinking that it would be a good idea. You do not have to worry about coming back here."**

" **It's alright, Dr. Johnson." America said with false cheer, "I tried my best and I guess it wasn't enough, but I was happy to help though. I might come visit again if just to keep her company, but it really does seem like she is having trouble."**

" **Yes… She's forgotten many things, and she's having trouble controlling her emotions. All we can do is be patient, and she may well get better so she can live with her son again."**

" **Thanks… I hope you can help her."**

"Wait, he lied to help someone he didn't even know?" Finland asked.

"I must admit I'm a little surprised myself that he would want to help a complete stranger when all he knew about them was from a simple phone call that he accidently received." England replied as he watched America on the screen leave the hospital and headed to a car rental shop, Enterprise. "Although I'm a little upset that he lied, but I know it was for a good cause." A small smile appeared on his face as he continued watching on.

 **America had driven from the car rental place back to his temporary apartment place. He walked up the stairs, arriving to the second floor and headed to where his room was located. Pulling out his key, he opened the door and walked in, but a loud noise stopped him from moving any further inside. He took a deep breath and slowly moved to the room on his left first, investigating where the noise came from like an idiot. Never go toward to source of the noise, but it was better to know what it was than stay the night and hear it in the middle of his sleep where he couldn't see anything. As he entered the room, America scanned the room to see if anything moved and noticed that the stool in front of the computer was no longer in front of it, it was pushed to the right in front of the trashcan.**

" **Okay, I know that the chair was in front of the computer when I left. Dude, what is up with this place!? First it's sounds in the middle of the night, then creepy messages left on mirrors, and now moving furniture!? Could the supernatural just leave me alone!"**

 **America really had walked out of a nightmare and right into another one. Knowing that he needed to figure out what was going on, he slowly approached the chair and looked around for clues. He noticed something sticking out of the drawer and opened it.**

" **There's something in the drawer…" Examining what it was, it revealed that it was a leaflet for a school. "Looks pretty old… Hm, these LL. M. courses are circled. Was somebody shooting to be a lawyer? I guess this must be the former tenant's… He sure forgot a bunch of stuff. Maybe no furniture is better after all, huh?"**

 **America placed the leaflet back in the drawer before closing it back again and exiting the room. At least it wasn't some creature that could kill him, but he didn't know if he preferred ghosts though. However, no supernatural was better than any supernatural and with the way things were looking, he wasn't so sure that was going to happen. He entered the main room where the kitchen was and as soon as he was through the door, the phone began ringing. Throwing the apartment key on the table, America walked over to the phone and picked it up to his right ear.**

" **Hello?"**

" _ **Hey, Alfred. How are you doing?"**_ **It was Marion that called apparently.**

" **Haha, you saw me just yesterday! I'm doing fine, thanks."**

" _ **Good, good! Call if you're ever lonely, okay? Alright, well I'll hang up now."**_

" **Alright, see you."**

 **He put the phone back on to the stand, wondering what he could do next as he glanced around the room. He had slept 'til noon this morning and wasn't exactly tired yet, so he needed something to entertain himself with. Sighing, America went to the kitchen and checked the cabinets for something to make. Inside he found a box of regular Lipton tea bags, he assumed that Marion left them so he had at least something to make himself to drink beside tap water. He was definitely thankful, it really had been a while since he drank tea. The Boston Tea Party incidence didn't really help that problem either and he didn't want to get criticized by England if caught drinking it during a meeting, he was probably still bitter about it. Grabbing a tea cup, he filled it with water and placed a tea bag in it and set it on the corner of the table. He left the room and went to the one with the computer in it and grabbed a couple books from the floor and brought them back to the table. Taking the one on top of the stack it read** _ **The Scarlet Letter**_ **on the cover, he opened to page one and began reading.**

"I didn't know America read." Italy stated from his spot between Germany and Japan. Once again it was another fact that the countries didn't know about America. They obviously didn't know the younger man at all.

"I'm surprised he drinks tea, I thought he hated it." England commented. "I know he drank it when he was younger, but I thought he stopped a long time ago…" There was a subtle reference to the American Revolution, but no one had the courage to bring it up since it was pretty much a taboo subject between the two countries, the two brothers. Well, maybe ex-brothers…

 **A couple hours had passed before America finally glanced at the clock to see it was** _ **11:34**_ **PM, and was beginning to feel the effects of exhaustion. Closing a book that was titled** _ **Lord of the Flies,**_ **he placed it on the stack of the other books and stood up from his spot at the table.**

"… **I'm tired of reading… I should go to bed." He walked over to the bed and sat down on the mattress, but that was as far as he got before he heard loud static come from within the room. Covering his ears, he look toward the TV and saw the black and white static on the screen. He walked over and stood in front of the TV, looking at the screen.**

"… **W-why did it turn on by itself!? Is it broken?" No sooner did he say those words that red letters appeared on the screen in quick succession.**

 _ **S I N K**_

" **GAH!" America jumped back what seemed like three feet, but the TV shut itself off. "W-what… This is creepy… Did it say 'sink'…? What was that?" There was a slight tremble to his voice, but he quickly shook his head to focus his thoughts.**

 **His hands forming fists by his side, America swallowed down his nerves and forced himself to head to the kitchen sink. Not knowing what he might find, he approached it carefully and looked in. There was nothing there. Feeling confusion, he looked on the counter, but there was still nothing. Then he checked under the sink.**

"… **Hm? There's a scrap of paper under here…" Pulling his hand back, it held a scrap of paper with the words** _ **There Was a Crooked Man**_ **at the top.**

" _ **There was a crooked man,  
and he walked a crooked mile.  
He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile.  
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse…  
And they all lived together  
in a little crooked house." **_**America read off the paper, a shiver running up his spine.**

"… **Is this a Mother Goose rhyme? Why is this here under the sink? I guess the previous tenant…? …This is so strange. I should sleep and forget about it." Moving from the sink, he crumpled the paper and put it in his left pants pocket before heading to the bed. He removed his shoes and got under the covers, sleep pulling his eyes closed.**

' **Change of pace, huh… Guess that's not working so well. I appreciate Mattie's and Marion's help, but…' America thought no more as he was pulled into sleep's grip. It wasn't long until sounds brought America back from sleep in the middle of the night.**

'… **Is that a kid I hear? What kid would live in these beat up apartments? Heck, maybe they're lost… I should go check.'**

 **Forcing himself on to his feet, America slipped on his shoes before making his way out of the room, but he retraced his steps and grabbed the key off the table. No need to get locked out. He then walked out of the apartment and headed toward the stairs.**

"…' **course there's no kids here. Must be getting tired…" Just as he turned around to head back to the apartment, a loud crash of glass hitting the floor within his own apartment and hurried back. When he entered the room, on the floor by the table was the forgotten tea cup that he had used earlier in the night in pieces as well as leftover tea splattered on the floor. He glanced around the room before making his way to broken cup.**

" **Just a broken cup… Geez, that startled me… W-wait, what!?" He looked down at the tea that was splattered on the floor, but it wasn't exactly splattered… The water stained the wood floor into words…**

 _ **HELP ME!**_

" **The tea says…?! Y-you gotta be… This room…is really, really strange… With its voices…and TVs turning on… What IS this…?"**

 **Unable to fall asleep now, America sat at the table continually looking around the room and decided to stay up the rest of the night.**

…

 **Once it was a decent time in the morning, America got up from the table and made his way to the phone. Dialing a number from a card that was left by the phone, he was greeted by a feminine voice on the other end of the call.**

" _ **Yeah, what's up? …You sound sleepy, Alfred."**_

" **Haha…yeah, um, was up all last night… I gotta ask you something, is now okay?"**

" _ **Yeah? What?"**_

"… **Do you know who used to live in this room?"**

"… _ **No, I don't know. Have you asked the landlady? …You curious about something?"**_

" **Well…seems like he forgot a lot of stuff. But I'll ask the landlady, sure. Later."**

 **America put the phone back where it was.**

"… **The landlady's on the far end of the first floor. I'll go see what she knows…"**

 **Making sure he had his key, America left the apartment and headed down the stairs to the first floor in search of the landlady. Once on the first floor, he headed down to the far end of the hallway, passing many rooms until he got to the last one. He knocked a couple times before patiently waiting for someone to open the door. An elderly woman opened the door with a bright smile on her face. She wore a beige dress that was covered by a crème apron with red trim and had her gray hair pinned up into a bun. Her round glasses sat on her nose and behind them were aged brown eyes.**

" **Hellooo! Oh, it's Mr. Alfred! What seems to be the matter?" She asked as she wiped her hands on to the apron, which covered it slightly with flour, it seemed like she was in the middle of cooking.**

" **Good day, miss. I just wanted to ask something, you see… About the room I'm in… Can you tell me anything about the person who used to live there?"**

" **Hmm… Well, you know, these apartments always have people coming and going… Now what was that boy's name… I believe he was a man about your age… He suddenly left about a month ago. Said to leave the furniture and use it however!"**

"… **You wouldn't know where he went?"**

" **I never heard that, no… Really just up and left out of the blue! …Ah, I just can't remember the name! I could rummage through my documents to find the previous tenants if you'd like?"**

" **N-no, there's no need… I was just a little curious. Thanks, I'll see you around."**

" **Alrighty! Sorry I wasn't very useful!" The landlady waved a goodbye before going back into the apartment, and once again America was stuck.**

" **A man about my age…well, my physical age… I can only wonder. Oh well… I'll get back to my room." America walked back to the stairs and headed back to his room, passing the other rooms on the floor. Luckily, he hasn't run into the tenant that he had woken up in the middle of the night, which was already looking to be a tense conversation. He put the key in the lock and turned before pushing the door open and feeling his breath catch in his throat. Footprints led from the front door to the door that was the main room. Entering cautiously, he walked into where the bedroom was and saw that the footprints were leading to a huge crack in the wall that was behind the TV and next to where the phone was stationed.**

"… **W-why are these tracks on the floor?! They lead up to this wall… Is there something in this crack?" He reached his hand inside the wall, feeling for something that could be hidden behind sheetrock and wood, but then felt something cool brush against his fingers. Grabbing on to it, he pulled his hand out to reveal a small, brass key. He examined it closely while also remembering if there was anything locked within this apartment.**

"… **This key is pretty fancy. I doubt it's for anything in here, so I wonder where…?" America walked to the table before sitting himself down and thinking about all the strange occurrences that had been happening. "…The guy's voice, the kids' voices, the mirror writing, the TV turning on, the tea… Hah, it's like a poltergeist or something… But I would have thought the landlady would've mention this kind of thing… What's going on here…? …Not that I'd care if there were ghosts here. I wouldn't much care if they haunted me and killed me, either. Ha ha ha…no, I'd rather they stay away after my adventure in that damn house…but I wonder about that scrap of paper… Did this stuff happen when he was here? Not much use thinking about it. I'll call it day…"**

 **He got up from the table and walked to the bed, kicking his shoes off before climbing in. A couple hours later, he was woken again in the middle of the night.**

" **W-what?!" The sound was matching that of a radio, as they next choice would have been a TV, but that was currently off. "Why… Where's that coming from? …Is it…from inside the apartment?"**

 **Getting out of bed in the middle of the night had become a sort of routine for America now as he put his shoes on and left the main room to the entry way. Turning into the computer room, he was greeted with the sound of the radio being louder. Obviously it was in this room. Not seeing it in plain sight on the floor or by the computer, he went to the wardrobe in the corner and opened the door.**

" **Aha! It came from in…here!" Inside revealed a small, red radio with the antenna sticking up. "…Radio? What's… Why is this in my closest? Not to mention turning on by itself…" Picking up the radio, he flipped the switch cutting it off, but noticed a small paper that happened to have been under the radio. "…Hm? There's something on this paper here… It's…an address?"**

"' _ **Our special place'…**_ **Where's that supposed to be?" He couldn't find anything else that would give any more clues, so he placed the radio back into the closest and put the paper in his pocket that also had the written poem in it. America entered the main room, closing the door behind him before looking up and tightening his grip on the door knob. All across the far wall was lettering written in what looked like blood saying:**

 _ **I' M W A IT IN' F OR YO U**_

 **America took trembling steps forward, fear causing his voice to fail him, and his eyes wide. "…w…wh… I'm…'I'm waitin' for you'…?! What…why did… How…and when did it?!" It wasn't long before a loud yell sounded through the apartment and America rushed out of it like the building was on fire.**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…when the hell did that happen!?" Prussia asked what was going through everybody's mind.

"The best thing we can do is keep watching to find out." Came Germany's voice of reason.

 **Both America and Marion were seated at a table in a nicely furnished house, and it appeared to be morning as well.**

"… **So, you sleep well last night? Sorry you had to sleep on the couch…" Marion asked America, striking up a conversation.**

" **Nah, I should be sorry for coming over so late…" Especially to a lady's house, someone to which he barely knows, but he really didn't want to stay with Canada and be question, or more likely interrogated.**

" **Wasn't expecting it, but don't worry about it… But, hey, did something happen? You don't look too hot."**

" **Oh, there's no particular reason… Or maybe I felt like intruding into someone I don't know well's house."**

" **Hey! You met me a couple days ago, it's not like we're complete strangers!"**

" **Hahaha, just kidding." America gave a big smile that seemed to scream fake, but laughed along with Marion.**

"… **Seriously, though, you can tell me if anything happens, okay? I'll do whatever I can for you!"**

"… **Wait, you'd really do that? We just met though."**

" **You're a nice guy, Alfred, I can tell. Besides…it feels like you've been though a lot."**

" **Huh?"**

 **Marion picked up the glass in front of her, looking into the cup of tea as she held it in her hands. "First of all, that was one of the most fakest smiles I've ever seen. Second, you show up all of a sudden asking for a place to live, not caring where it is or what it looks like. You seem to keep to yourself now because you have your brother all worried about you, and I'm sure if he knew what it was he would act a little different. You really need to look up, you keep up that moping and you'll have your own personal rain cloud!"**

"… **Well, I… Hah, well, I'll be careful." America gave a small, genuine smile as he stood up from the table. "…Oh, so I'm going to go on a little trip. I know my brother is keeping tabs on me by asking you to watch me, so if he asks, that's the answer I want you to give." He began to walk to the front door.**

 **Marion quickly stood up from her seat, "Where are you going?"**

"… **Just somewhere I was wondering about. I'll call you if I ever need help." He gave a small wave as he opened the door, and began leaving. From behind he heard Marion shout, "Send a postcard!" To which he sent a backwards wave as he kept walking, his confidence a little bit higher now.**

 **America drove back to the apartment, and saw that the writing was no longer on the walls, but quickly focused on finding a map within the apartment. After finding one in one of the drawers, he spread it out on the table and pulled out the piece of paper with the address on it. Scanning through all the cities and roads he found the place he was looking for.**

"… **There! Looks like this address is in the forest… About a five hour drive. Did the former tenant go here…? I just want to ask him about this room. Maybe he'll know something… Hell, I'll go right now. I can't stand this place, anyway…" Making sure he had keys and all the pieces of paper he collected, America exited the room and made his way down the stairs to his rental car. He climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine before buckling up and pulling out of the parking spot.**

This wasn't as scary as the first supernatural encounter they watched, but this was only the beginning. This probably led America to the horror he would soon face by himself, something that happened who knows how long ago. The countries were learning more about their fellow country as he faced more possibly dangerous situations as Canada was missing.

"Germany! Please, this is scaring me! Make it go away!" Italy clutched on to Germany's arm as tears gathered in his eyes.

"Italy! If I could make it stop, then I would have done so already. Now would you please stop crying!"

"Japon*, do you have any idea what creature this could possibly be?" France asked toward Japan who seemed to be in deep thought.

"No, all I know is that it must have incredible speed for it to move that fast within the apartment, but it did leave very human like footprints."

"So, it could be human?"

"It is a very high possibility."

"I don't know whether or not that makes the situation better or worse… I guess we'll just have to find out." England remarked before everybody returned to looking at the screen.

….

"Al! Alfred! Where am I?" Canada asked as he walked through a dark, dimly lit place.

The place really was strange as it was black altogether, but many lines of bright green travelled horizontally up. It was like he was in a glass tunnel because he could only go so far left and right, but he could walk forever forward. However, as he looked around, he saw many animals that took shape by lines in different colors.

"What is going on here?" He glanced around in curious wonder, but he kept walking forward intent of finding someone.

To be continued…

Translations:

Oui – Yes [French]  
Amérique's – America's [French]  
Japon – Japan [French]  
Amerika – America [Russian]  
Bruder – Brother [German]

 **TheObsessedWriter: Thank you so much for reading the story, and if any of the translations are wrong, please tell me and I will fix the mistake as soon as possible. Now, PLEASE READ THE NEXT FEW SENTENCES!**

 **IF THERE IS A STORY OR HORROR GAME THAT YOU KNOW OF AND WOULD LIKE TO APPEAR IN ONE OF THIS STORY'S CHAPTER, PLEASE PM ME OR LEAVE THE NAME IN A REVIEW. I MIGHT HAVE TO CHANGE A COUPLE DETAILS SO THAT IT WILL FIT THE CHARACTER(S), BUT I WILL DO MY BEST TO INCLUDE ALL ENTRYS.**

 **Thank you again for reading this story, and please leave a review on your thoughts about it or what I could do to improve it.**

 **~TheObsessedWriter**


	3. A Crooked Man Scene 1: Hotel Ruhenheim

**TheObsessedWriter: Hello once again people on Fanfiction! As you have noticed, I decided to split The Crooked Man into multiple chapters, as the game itself is split up into chapters. Each chapter of the game is pretty long as well as very detailed, so I will try my best to split it up equally. Remember if you have any requests leave one in a review or PM me, and also if there is a good website for a walkthrough, let me know as well.**

 **Thanks to those who Favorited: starfire341, Veris Veneziano,**

 **Thanks to those who Followed: starfire341, Bookie14, Veris Veneziano, yonezuu, nightwing5723,**

 **Thanks to those who left a Review: silverheartlugia2000, Fairygirl34,**

 **Thanks to those who left a Request:**

 **TheObsessedWriter: Now on to the next chapter of A Crooked Man. I hope you all enjoy it, and please leave a review or request.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, or The Crooked Man…**

Review from last chapter…

 _This wasn't as scary as the first supernatural encounter they watched, but this was only the beginning. This probably led America to the horror he would soon face by himself, something that happened who knows how long ago. The countries were learning more about their fellow country as he faced more possibly dangerous situations as Canada was missing._

" _Germany! Please, this is scaring me! Make it go away!" Italy clutched on to Germany's arm as tears gathered in his eyes._

" _Italy! If I could make it stop, then I would have done so already. Now would you please stop crying!"_

" _Japon*, do you have any idea what creature this could possibly be?" France asked toward Japan who seemed to be in deep thought._

" _No, all I know is that it must have incredible speed for it to move that fast within the apartment, but it did leave very human like footprints."_

" _So, it could be human?"_

" _It is a very high possibility."_

" _I don't know whether or not that makes the situation better or worse… I guess we'll just have to find out." England remarked before everybody returned to looking at the screen._

… _._

" _Al! Alfred! Where am I?" Canada asked as he walked through a dark, dimly lit place._

 _The place really was strange as it was black altogether, but many lines of bright green travelled horizontally up. It was like he was in a glass tunnel because he could only go so far left and right, but he could walk forever forward. However, as he looked around, he saw many animals that took shape by lines in different colors._

" _What is going on here?" He glanced around in curious wonder, but he kept walking forward intent of finding someone._

Chapter 3

A Crooked Man  
Scene 1: Hotel Ruhenheim- Sissi 

**After parking the car off the road in some grass, America began the walk through the forest. After walking a couple minutes, he noticed an old road that seemed to no longer be used, but followed it knowing it would lead to the place he was trying to find. Eventually, he ended up in an old parking lot, but he kept going through the overgrown, grassy field until he came across a large building. Some windows were cracked, and the paint was chipping of the outside, giving it an eerie look. The hedges in front of it looked like they could have used a trim quite a long time ago, and he noticed a sign to the right of the door.**

"… **Geez, it's gotten dark. But this is the place…no doubt. Huge place… Looks like a hotel… Would he be here? …I guess I'll have to check." America walked up to the faded board, and tried reading the writing on it.**

" _ **Hotel Ruhenheim"**_

 _ **Giving You A Serene Stay**_

" **So it is a hotel…yay, I can feel the excitement already…" America commented as he walked up the front steps and entered through the front entrance.**

 **The sight that welcomed him was both beautiful and creepy, when it was still running, the hotel must have been a beautiful place to stay at. The floor was tiled with a maroon color, and there was a red carpet that was in the front and also went up the stairs that had gold embroidery on it. In front of him was the receptionist desk that still had the guest register and pen on top, waiting for someone to sign in as the book was still open. Behind the desk was two doors, but America kept looking all around him, trying to imagine what the hotel would have looked like filled with people. However, as time aged the building, the carpet has gotten more worn with holes appearing more often. The wood of the desk and rail of the stairs have warped from weather damage as well as age. The lights no longer work, whether it be from the lightbulbs or if the electricity circuits have stopped working. This was all told from a first glance, there was still the hallways to look at, as well as the second floor, but from where he was standing, America could see a deer head mounted in the center, but it looked like it had seen better days. The fur had patches missing, and it looked like the antlers were broken in a couple places, but other than that, the building was definitely in better condition before. So, it was once a beautiful hotel, but now it wasn't. It was now just a creepy building you wouldn't want to go in alone.**

 **Walking around the front desk, America tried opening the first door on the left, but it wouldn't budge signaling that the door was locked. He walked to the other door, passing a clock that had stopped at** _ **1:23,**_ **and looked at the door knob. Around it was wire that would need to be cut if he wanted entry, and the plaque to the right of the door read** _ **'Staff Room'**_ **and the door had a smaller label that read** _ **'Staff Only'.**_

 **He moved out from behind the desk and headed to the hallway on the far left of the first floor and was greeted with a row of rooms.**

" **Well, isn't that just great! Please tell me I do not have to go through all of these rooms, cause if I do, I'm gonna shoot myself…"**

 **He walked over to the first room and tried the door, but the keyhole was painted over. Moving on, the second door also had the keyhole painted over, much like the third one that followed after. America went to the fourth door, and turned the knob, but was surprised to see the door actually open. He slowly pushed the door open, peeking through the crack for any trace of someone before walking in. It looked to be once a nice room, there were two beds near the top left corner of the room, and both were made as if waiting for guests. A large, red rug was placed in the center of the room, matching the rug in the front entrance, which had a table with two red couches on either side of it. There was a white table cloth draped over the table that had begun to turn slightly yellow from age and weather, and fabric on the couches that was beginning to rip. There was a wardrobe to the right of the bed with splinters coming off the wood, but the brass handles were darkening. A clock hung from the wall between the bed and wardrobe, but the time was the same as the one at the front desk,** _ **1:23**_ **. The window that was situated between the two beds had tattered fabric that could only be assumed as drapes, and beside the wardrobe looked to be a cabinet of some sort. There was a door in the top right corner, probably led to the bathroom.**

" **Jeez…this place has definitely been shut down for a while now." America commented to himself as he cautiously wandered around the room, looking all around him.**

 **Looking at the ceiling, when around the cabinet, America noticed something sticking out on top of the shelf. He walked over and reached, being just tall enough to grab it. Pulling back, he looked at what he grabbed, which was a piece of paper with a crude kid's drawing on it. On the top in red letters was the words, '** _ **Treasure Hunt'**_ **, which had yellow stars around it. There was nine gray squares with a yellow crown drawn on the top right square in the center of the page with '** _ **Dear Mom Dad'**_ **in black letters in the bottom left corner and a little girl drawn with the same black in the bottom right. Above the little girl was the word '** _ **Me'**_ **with an arrow pointing down at the drawing…the girl with a smile drawn on her face.**

" **Treasure hunt…? I guess some kid staying here drew this. Haha… Sure, I'll look for your treasure." America had a small, faint smile on his face as he carefully put the paper back where it was. He couldn't risk the paper getting ruined, if he forgot where exactly the 'crown' was then he could come back and check the paper again. Giving the room one more glance, America walked out and began checking the other rooms. The fifth door had the keyhole painted over and the sixth door was just locked, so he needed to find a key if he wanted to get in that one.**

 **The last door was different, the past six doors were just simple wooden ones that led to guest rooms, but the eighth door was a light blue color that needed a passcode to open and had the words** _ **'Staff Only'**_ **on a small plaque that was on the door. Knowing there was nothing else to search here, America walked down the hallway back to the front entrance, but as he walked back he noticed a small plaque at the beginning that had** _ **'101-107'**_ **on it.**

' **Must have been the room numbers or something…' America thought to himself as he walked across the entry way to the right hallway of rooms. Once again checking which ones he could enter. The first, as expected, had the keyhole painted over. The second one was just locked, the third had the keyhole painted over, as well as the fourth too. The fifth had a painted over keyhole, the sixth was locked and the seventh had a painted over keyhole. There was no open door in this hallway.**

" **Well, that was very pointless…" America said as he walked down the hallway and back to the entrance and up the right flight of stairs to the second floor and the right hallway. "Although, maybe I should be happy that there isn't many rooms to check cause this place is just plain creepy. Very Bates Motel-esque…and that's not a good thing…"**

 **The first door had a painted keyhole, and so did the second, but this hall was a little different. The further down America went, he noticed a big sign above the next door that said** _ **'BAR',**_ **he tried the door, but it was locked.**

" **Aw, come on! Maybe I need a couple of drinks to live through this terrible nightmare…" America sighed before moving on to the next door.**

 **The fourth door had a painted keyhole and the fifth door was just locked, but as America passed by the Bar, he wished the door was unlocked. Exiting the hallway, America was back to the front entrance of the second floor and instead of going across to check more rooms that were probably unavailable, he entered the door that was in front of the stairs. Once inside, he was greeted by a multitude of tables that had four chairs each and were lined three by three. Four large windows lined the far wall with gray drapery on each, it was very ornate. As he wandered in the room, gently touching some of the tables and chairs, his mind flashed to a memory…the drawing in the first room he checked.**

" **Wait…in that picture was nine squares in a three by three layout just like how this room is. And…and, there was a crown drawn on the top right square, which would be…that table!" America crossed the room and to the specific table.**

"… **Eh? Something under the table…" Getting on his knees, America lifted the table cloth and picked up a small object…a gold key. He pocketed the key, and as he was, he noticed a paper that had been beside the key that read** _ **'You found the treasure! Congrats!'**_ **in black crayon, probably written by the child when the hid the key. He got up from the floor and left the room back in to the main entry way. Heading over to the door that was in front of the left flight of stairs, America passed by the deer mount on the wall, the eyes giving him a blank stare.**

"… **Alright, let's not look at the creepy deer when walking past it, yeah? Yeah, let's do that." America opened the door and walked in.**

 **The room looked to be a lounge, with three round tables that had two couches each. Each table had a vase of dead flowers, but they were probably pretty when still good. There was a fireplace in the top left corner, burnt wood inside from the last use and a piano in the top right corner, in decent condition to play. The piano was sleek and black, and was on the same red carpet that was seen all over the hotel. On the music stand was sheet music, and the board that stood to the left, but in front of the piano said** _ **'Today's Program Schubert, Three Piano Pieces'**_ **.**

 **America slowly played keys along the grand piano, it was still perfectly tuned. Heaving a sigh, he walked to the door and left, and headed to the second floor's left hallway of rooms. Repeating the process from the other halls, he checked all the doors. The first and second had a painted over keyhole, but the third door opened. A large, red carpet was in the center of the room with a table that had six chairs, three on either side, and a candelabra was in the center of the table. By the left wall, near the table was a desk and chair with a small stand that had a lamp. America checked the drawers, but found nothing. In front of the desk near the top left corner of the room was a wardrobe and a vanity that may have had something in it. He began to walk towards the vanity, but the mirror cracked in the center before he could even touch it. Taking slow steps, he got closer to the mirror to see that something was sticking out between the glass pieces, it looked to be like a scrap of notebook paper.**

" _ **It was our special place. She loved the pretty room with its big mirror. She would wonder what to wear for dinner. But now it's just me. I thought it might help to come here, but it didn't. There's only emptiness."**_ **America read off the paper. "The rule on this page…it matches the one from my room. So the former tenant did come here… I wonder if he's still here? Well, that's probably a stupid question since I haven't seen him… So he…got dumped, huh? The note at home did mention that… And 'our special place'…he came here with her… Where could he be?"**

 **Setting the thought aside, America moved toward the two beds in the top right corner, checking for any more clues. He found nothing more and left the room to check the last couple of rooms, moving on to the fourth and fifth door that had painted keyholes. The sixth door was different from the other ones, it was still locked, but it had a notice on the door.**

' _ **Due to employee incompetence and lost keys, the library is temporarily closed. We apologize for the inconvenience.'**_

" **Lost keys…wait. I wonder if the gold key I found will work." America dug in his pocket and pulled out the key he found from his little 'treasure hunt' and placed it in the keyhole, turning it. The door unlocked and America walked into the library in search of clues that could lead to the mysterious former tenant.**

 **There were shelves full of books, probably hundreds and two round tables, and one on each side of the door with a couple of chairs. Noticing a glint, there was a key on the left table and America walked over and grabbed it, a tag on it read '** _ **109**_ **', a room key. He put it in his pocket before looking around the rest of the room. There was a board near the front that read '** _ **The owner's collection of books. Please read at your leisure.**_ **' There was a single book that laid on the table to the right of the door, the only one out, so maybe it was another clue. It had a red cover, and the title was** _ **Cry of the Unseen**_ **.**

" _ **Do you consider yourself kind? You don't get to decide that. It's decided in the unconscious. Even if you believe you are cold-hearted, you may be warm and emotional inside… And THEY will sniff it out. They will be lured by your kindness, and they will drag you away.**_ **" America read a small amount, "…Some kind of occult book? I bet Artie would love this. He's way into that stuff despite being a country…although I can hardly talk. I always sensed there was something out there, and that…creature in the house just proved it."**

 **America moved away from the table and headed to check the bookshelves in the back by the wall, but was stopped by a strange sound, like a gust of wind.**

"… **What the? That sound…" He became more alert as he left the library and traveled down the hall, but stopped again as the noise happened louder. "…Is someone there…?" He kept walking, his pace quickening slightly as he left the hallway and entered the second floor entry.**

 **America walked down to the first floor near the right hallway and noticed that the sound became louder and sounded more like thumping within a room. He slowly entered the hall, and heard the noise come from within the second door, room** _ **109.**_ **He pulled the key from the library out of his pocket and unlocked the door. It looked like a normal hotel room, two beds against the far wall, a table a little off center with four chairs, a wardrobe and cabinet and a door that led to the bathroom. Something poked out from on top of the wardrobe, and knowing he wasn't tall enough to reach it, America grabbed one of the chairs from the table and pushed it against the wardrobe before standing on it. He wrapped his hand around it before pulling it down and it revealed to be the wire cutters he would need to open the door at the front desk.**

" **Now I can finally open that door, but makes me wonder what could possibly be behind it…" America climbed off the chair and left the room.**

The countries watched on, questions rising in their minds, and both fear and curiosity taking their senses. Everything they watched it was like they learned a new fact about America and it was shocking how much they didn't know.

"Wait, wait… Did America admit to knowing about the paranormal? When he read that book?" England asked. "I thought he didn't believe in that kind of stuff, at least he always made sure to insult me whenever I brought it up."

"What about how he acted with the piano and the drawing? He treated them like he was disturbing a memory." Spain mentioned.

"Let's just keep watching, that is the only way we will learn anything." Germany drew the countries' attention back to the screen.

 **America left the room, intent on cutting the wire around the knob on the door by the front desk, but the soft notes a piano stopped him. The music carried from the lounge all the way to the first floor hallway.**

" **So, someone is here…guess there is only one way to find out…" He headed up the stairs and entered the left door. Upon entering the room, he saw a figure at the piano and ran up to them with great speed.**

" **WHO'S THERE?!" He shouted, a crashing of notes following after as a result.**

"… **Ah…" Came the shy, quiet response from what appeared to be a young woman. "…I…I'm sorry…I-I just came in… And the piano looked nice, so I…um…" She slowly stuttered out, hands messing with the sides of the red dress she wore, it went to her knees and had a white collar, and she wore red, flat shoes to match. She had shoulder length, light brown hair and dark brown eyes, and her face had a slight blush from being caught as her eyes remained staring at the ground.**

 **America started feeling guilt from yelling at the girl, as the noise had frightened her into a nervous mess. Wanting to correct his mistake, he immediately apologized.**

"… **S-sorry I yelled at you. I'm not on staff for the hotel or anything."**

"… **Who are you then?" She gave a tilt of her head.**

" **I'm Alfred. I'm sorta…looking for a guy. What about you?" He was going to leave out most of the details like the reason why he was looking for the guy, no need to involve other people.**

"… **I'm Sissi."**

"Are you kidding me!? Her name is actually 'Sissi', man, her parents must've hated her!" Prussia laughed obnoxiously.

"Bruder*, please shut up…" Germany sighed.

" **Huh…Sissi, then. What brings you here? It could be dangerous, you know…"**

"… **I stayed at this hotel once… But I forgot something important, so I came back to get it…"**

"… **I see. Did you find it?" America asked, genuinely curious on how important the item was that a young woman would come to an abandoned hotel at night to get it.**

" **No…I'm still looking. It's just this little box, decorated with rubies… But I'm not leaving until I find it."**

" **Right… Well, again, sorry for shouting… I'll probably be here for a while longer, so I could help you find it!" He would help look for it, if only to make sure that she wouldn't be in danger any longer than necessary. This was an old hotel, who knew how stable it actually was.**

"" **R-really? That would be great…! Okay, please help!"**

"… **Just do me a favor too, though… If you see a man…about my age, would you tell me?"**

"… **Okay…I…I'll be going, then, um… Alfred…you be careful too…" Sissi then quickly left, leaving America as the only occupant in the room. After the exit, he was surrounded by silence.**

"… **Man, what am I doing shouting at girls…I feel like the shady one here." Heaving a sigh, America left the room and headed back downstairs to the door behind the front desk. He pulled the wire cutters from his pocket, and removed the wire from the knob.**

 **He entered the room, kicking up dust that was very visible in the air. A table was in the center of the room, with two chairs and an opened book on the surface. Two bookshelves stacked with books were in the top right corner, and cabinets located in the top left, as well as a trash can. America walked up to the book, realizing it was actually a notebook.**

" _ **O/X  
Door in Room 107 bathroom needs fixing.**_ **" And on the next page was a key, the number read** _ **107**_ **.**

 **He checked the cabinets and drawers, but found nothing of significance. Next was the bulletin board, which read:**

" _ **Four chapters of the book have mysteriously gone missing. Should you find the pages, please report to the owner.**_ **"**

 **He then walked to the door next to the bookshelves, and the plaque read** _ **'Owner's Room',**_ **but as he looked down, there was no doorknob. Without the doorknob he wouldn't be able to enter the room. However, soon after, he began to hear something.**

"… **? I hear something… Is somebody locked in there?! I should find some way to open it…"**

 **There was nothing else he could do here, all he could do right now is go to** _ **Room 107**_ **and see what he would find there. So, he left the room and went around the front desk and headed to the left hallway, going down near the end before finding the right door. He turned the key in the knob, and unlocked the door. It looked just like the other room he had been in, with a table and chairs, a wardrobe, a clock, two beds, and a door that led to the bathroom. He entered the bathroom and glanced around, the toilet was to his left and the sink to his right, a mirror hung above the sink and a door was between the two, presumably leading to the bathtub. However, in front of the door on the ground was a door knob.**

" **A door knob… Oh yeah, that journal mentioned something about door repairs." America picked the knob up off the ground. "…Hm. Maybe it would work on that door without a knob. It's the same kind… I'll give it a shot." He quickly left the bathroom as it was in a filthy state, a thick layer of dust covered the room, much like the entire hotel, you couldn't even see your reflection in the mirror, and he wasn't going to take a look on what the inside of the toilet looked like.**

 **Exiting the hallway, he headed back to the** _ **'Owner's Room'**_ **with the door knob in hand. He made his way to the door and quickly attached it, but something seemed wrong. The noise he heard earlier, there really couldn't be someone in the room, could there? Only one way to find out, so he took a breath and entered. Inside was a large red carpet that had a round table on it as well as two couches around it. On the wall was two, big bookshelves and a smaller one beside them and a bulletin board near the top right corner of the room. He moved to the bulletin board and quickly read what was posted.**

" _ **Book of the Month:  
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.**_ **"**

 **Nothing else was posted besides that, he walked towards the trash can that was to his right, but stopped as the tile he stepped on moved slightly.**

"… **? This tile seems a little loose…" Taking a step back from the tile, America lifted his foot in the air before crashing down on it with his strength. Not enough to demolish it, but when he did, a loud click was heard from behind him. Near the far right wall, a trap door was seen. The click must have been the door unlocking.**

" **It opened… Was there a mechanism in the floor?" He pulled the door opened and looked down. "There's a ladder… And it goes down, where else. Maybe I should check this out…" He slowly lowered himself in and began the descent downwards. The lower he got, the more the light vanished, and left him in darkness.**

" **Can't see a thing… I need a light." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the lighter he had found. Lighting it, the room now was covered with the soft, yellow glow from the flame and anything that could reflect the light brightened the room further. From what he could see, it was a basement that held spare chairs and unused equipment. America slowly moved the lighter around to see more of the room and took cautious steps forward. At the far wall there was a dark shape, and he felt a shiver run up his spine. Despite all instincts telling him to get the hell out of there, he approached it slowly.**

" **A-are you okay?! Were you locked in here?!" Noises followed after, the sounds of skin stretching and bones moving. The figure gradually moved from the floor until it was in a standing position, the sounds not stopping. "…Wh…what…? A…are you…okay…? Whoa! Ack…!" The figure kept moving, and what looked like a head turned sideways…too much that it almost looked like it wasn't connected to the body almost. The eyes were gone, nothing but dark holes and it held a bloody smile on its face, but with the head upside down, it looked like a frown. It looked very much human, it work a white shirt stained red, and a black sports jacket over it with match black pants. Its black hair hung from its head, much like when you hang off the side of your bed looking at everything upside down.**

" **Wa… S-stay back! Don't come near me!" The fear that he had felt when he was in that stupid house was back, so he ran. Back up the ladder, but he only managed a few rungs up before his leg was grabbed. "WAAAHHH!" Looking down, there was a hand wrapped around his leg, keeping him from escaping. "Crap! Let go! LET GO!" He wildly kept shaking his leg to get the hand to let go of him. The moment he was released he hurried up the ladder out the door before slamming the trap door shut behind him. He laid on the floor, gasping for breath.**

"… ***pant*…What was that… Its neck was…all crooked…can't have been human…! Am I just going nuts here…? That thing…it couldn't have been real… I must…just be seeing things. I'm just so tired, is all… Urgh, I feel sick…" He rubbed a hand over his face, controlling his breathing. "I wonder what Sissi's up to… Did she find what she came for?" Getting up from his place on the floor, America left the room and entered the main entrance.**

 **He headed up the stairs and checked the lounge where the piano was, seeing if Sissi was there. The room was empty, so he entered the left hallway on the second floor and the minute he entered, a loud, female scream echoed throughout.**

" **W-was that…Sissi?!" He quickened his pace and entered the third to last door. Inside near the window by the wall was Sissi, the floor around her gone as she stood on the small piece of flooring left. America ran toward the edge, careful of where he stood.**

" **Sissi! W-what happened?!"**

" **I…I went to the window, and the floor gave way…! Wh…what should I do…?!" America look around and considered the options, there was only one thing she could do at the moment.**

" **Sissi, jump over! It's dangerous over there!"**

" **Ah…n-no, I can't… I-I'm slipping… A-and I can't possibly jump that far! A gap this big?!" Tears were gathering in her eyes as she looked at the distance.**

" **This is no time for pessimism! It's going to crumble quickly! Hurry, I'll catch you!" America reached out his hand.**

" **Ack… YAAAHHH!" Sissi jumped as far as she could, and America quickly grabbed on to her arm, but the force pulled both of them to the floor as the piece of flooring she was previously standing on crumbled away.**

"… **Th…that was too close… Are you okay, Sissi? Are you hurt?" Silence was the response he got. "…Sissi?"**

 **Sissi was gripping on to his jacket rather tightly, light tears falling down her face as she held on. She made no move to get up from where she sat, and America was stuck where he was as well.**

"… **so scared… I was so…scared…! No more… I, I don't like the dark… Why…why do I… I…"**

" **It's okay, Sissi… I'm sorry, I know you were scared… But it's fine now. Don't cry…" As much as he would have liked to help, he wasn't sure on how to comfort her best. He would take an angry woman any day, but a crying one is where he got lost.**

" **Aah… I… I'm sorry… I-I was scared and confused…" She apologized as both stood up, Sissi taking a couple steps back to give both of them room.**

" **It's alright, I'm glad you're not hurt… Did you find what you were looking for?"**

 **She wiped her eyes as she responded back, "No, not yet… It wasn't in the room we stayed in… I wonder where it could be…"**

" **It must be important if you're looking all alone. You can always just give up on it… It's not entirely safe here."**

" **I-I can't give up on it! I have to find it…"**

"… **What exactly is it? Sorry to ask, but I've just been wondering… Was it a present, or?"**

"… **It's a present from my boyfriend. It's the most important thing to me, after my own life…"**

"… **Ah… I see. Sorry if I was rude… I'll keep looking for it too."**

" **You're looking for someone, right? I haven't met anyone yet, but… Can you tell me more about them?"**

"… **Er, well… I don't know that much either. Just that he's a man about my age…" Even the amount of information he gave sounded strange for a person that was looking for them. It was much to go on.**

" **Huh? You know that little about the person you're looking for? Heehee… you're a strange guy, Alfred." A small smile graced her face, tears long forgotten now.**

" **I-I am not… There's just some things I want to ask… And I don't know how he looks because, um…"**

"… **Strange, but very kind." That brought a light dust of pink on America's face, as he scratched the back of his neck. " I would've been hurt badly if you weren't here… I'm really grateful to you for saving me. I should get going. Take care, Alfred… I'll see you." With a small wave, Sissi left the room, going back to her search for the missing present, and left America in the room by himself.**

 **What could he do now? He hadn't found any keys, so he couldn't go find any more rooms to check other than the ones he had already been through. Except one place…there had to be something in the basement…where the creature had been. A key or something. He swallowed down the fear and left the room, going down the stairs and behind the front desk back into the** _ **'Owner's Room'.**_ **He entered and went through the second door, and when he looked at the basement's door, he stopped.**

"… **! The basement door's open…" No, he wasn't gonna turn back. If need be, he could fight back. He had more strength than a normal human, when he was a child he could swing a buffalo like no problem, although that freaked England out when he saw that. He could drag a car behind him like it was just a suitcase on wheels, so he could defend himself. He forced his legs to walk to the basement door, and climbed down the ladder back into the darkness, the lighter already in his hand. The second his feet touched the ground, he flipped that lighter on in a heartbeat. Nothing was down here, just hotel equipment. He quickly scanned through the shelves and boxes, trying to find anything that would be important. In the lower left corner of the room was a round table, light reflected off something on the top, picking it up revealed that it was a bronze key. This had to be the only thing here, so not taking a moment longer, America climbed back up the ladder into the room.**

 **It wasn't a normal room key, it would have had a number on it telling him which room to go to. So, what rooms were still locked? He left the room and was back to being behind the desk, he checked the left door that was next to him, but it didn't fit. He knew one door needed a passcode, so it wasn't that. What could it be? Wait…the bar! That needed a key! He hurried up the stairs and entered the right hallway towards the door with** _ **'BAR'**_ **above it on a sign that had a glass of beer next to it. He pushed the key in, and turned, unlocking the door.**

 **The room had five round tables with chairs around them, all of them having some alcoholic drink and glasses on them except one that only had a book on it. To his left was the bar counter, it also had varying drinks and bottles and to his right were barrels. Like the rest of the hotel, there was a layer of dust on everything. Checking the bottles, he noticed that most of them were empty, so he moved towards the book that rested on one of the tables. Opening it, it was a journal seemingly written by a staff member. The last page was rambling and sloppily-written…**

" _ **O/X  
A toast to our owner, who left his employees and fled into the night! We'll drink all the beer we've got- hell, it's the only good thing here! Being out of a job's no good, but at least we don't have to see his mug no more! We were SO sick of that egghead always trying to flaunt his intelligence! Installing weird stuff for the basement door, having a number lock on the food storage… All his silly crap made the place impossible to run! Plus the passcode was this thing with a book which he changed up every month! What the hell do you do if you forget?! Maybe it's good for him, but sure as hell not us! Ah, whatever! Once we're done with the booze, we're outta here! A toast to our bright futures!**_ **" That was the last thing written in the journal.**

"… **The door to the food storage is at the far end of the first floor, right? A passcode on food is pretty crazy…"**

 **However, reading that journal did help him on finding the passcode for the door because it mentioned something about a book. Now all he had to do was find the right book, and then he would be able to get into the room. He left the bar, and headed to the left hallway, remaining on the second floor and went all the way to the end to the library. There were many bookshelves, all stacked with books, but there was too many for him to go through. There had to be a specific one, there must have been a clue somewhere that would give him a chance on finding the right one. Looking back in his memories, he tried to remember if there was any type of book mentioned until he remembered the bulletin board.**

" **The bulletin board in the owner's room said "** _ **The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde**_ **"… It'd be on this shelf, right?" America walked to the first row of shelves and went to the first on the right side of the window. They were all labeled so, it would be on this bookshelf. "Ah, here we go!"**

" _ **Chapter 1: Story of the Door**_

 _ **Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable. At friendly meetings and when the wine was to his taste, something eminently human beaconed from his eye; something indeed which never found its way into his talk, but which spoke not only in these silent symbols of the after-dinner face, but more often and loudly in the acts of his life. He was austere with himself; drank gin when he was alone, to mortify a taste for vintages; and though he enjoyed the theater, had not crossed the doors of one for twenty years. But he had an approved tolerance for others; sometimes wondering, almost with envy, at the high pressure of spirits involved in their misdeeds; and in any-**_ **"**

 **America saw nothing of importance and flipped through the pages.**

" _ **Chapter 2: Search for Mr. Hyde**_

 _ **That evening Mr. Utterson came home to his bachelor house in somber spirits and sat down to dinner without relish. It was his custom of a Sunday, when this meal was over, to sit closer by the fire, a volume of some dry divinity on his reading desk until the clock of the neighboring church rang out the hour at twelve, when he would go soberly and gratefully to bed. On this night however, as soon as the cloth was taken away, he took up a candle and went into his business room. There he opened his safe, took from the most private of it a document endorsed on the envelope as Dr. Jekyll's Will and sat down with a clouded brow to study its contents. The will was holograph, for Mr. Utterson though he took charge of it now that it was made, had refused to lend the least assistance in the making of it; it provided not only that, in case of the-**_ **"**

 **He found nothing still, going farther into the book, he flipped through more pages.**

" _ **Chapter 4: The Carew Murder Case**_

 _ **Nearly a year later, in the month of October, 18-, London was startled by a crime of singular ferocity and rendered all the more notable by the high position of the victim. The details were few and startling. A maid servant living alone in a house not far from the river, had gone upstairs to bed about eleven. Although fog rolled over the city in the small hours, the early part of the night was cloudless, and the lane, which the maid's window overlooked, was brilliantly lit by the full moon. It seems she was romantically given, for she sat down upon her box, which stood immediately under the window, and it fell into a dream of music. Never (she used to say, with streaming tears, when she narrated that experience), never had she felt more at peace with all men thought more kindly of the world. And as she so sat she became aware of an aged beautiful gentleman with white hair, drawing-**_ **"**

 **The more he read, the more frustrated he got. He needed numbers, not words. He filed away October, 18 in his mind to try later on the door, but it wouldn't be this easy, would it? He flipped through more pages in the book.**

" _ **Chapter 5: Incident of the Letter**_

 _ **It was late in the afternoon, when Mr. Utterson found his way to Dr. Jekyll's door, where he was at once admitted by Poole, carried down by the kitchen offices and across a yard which had once been a garden, to the building which was indifferently known as the laboratory or dissecting rooms. The doctor had bought the house from the heirs of a celebrated surgeon; and own tastes being rather chemical than anatomical, had changed the destination of the block at the bottom of the garden. It was the first time that the lawyer had been received in that part of his friend's quarters; and he eyed the dingy, windowless structure with curiosity, and gazed round with a distasteful sense of strangeness as he crossed the theatre, once crowded with eager students and now lying gaunt and silent, the tables laden with chemical apparatus, the floor strewn with crates and littered with-**_ **"**

 **Once again, no numbers of importance. He flipped through more pages.**

" _ **Chapter 8: The Last Night**_

 _ **Mr. Utterson was sitting by his fireside one evening after dinner when he was surprised to receive a visit from Poole.**_

' _ **Bless me, Poole, what brings you here?' he cried; and then taking a second look at him, 'What ails you?' he added; is the doctor ill?**_

' _ **Mr. Utterson,' said the man, 'there is something wrong.'**_

' _ **Take a seat, and here is a glass of wine for you,' said the lawyer. 'Now, take your time, and tell me plainly what you want.'**_

' _ **You know the doctor's ways, sir,' replied Poole. 'and how-**_ **"**

 **That was only a conversation, he skimmed through more pages even further.**

" _ **Chapter 10: Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case**_

 _ **I was born in the year 18—to a large fortune, endowed best with excellent parts, inclined by nature to industry, fond of the respect of the wise and good among my fellowmen, and thus, I might have been supposed, with every guarantee of an honorable and distinguished future. And indeed the worst of faults was a certain impatient gaiety of disposition, such as he made the happiness of many, but such I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the put. Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection, and began to look round now and take stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of me. Many a man would have even blazoned such irregularities as I was guilty-**_ **"**

 **He shoved the book back into its place on the shelf. There was a few numbers he could use, but now the problem was putting them in the right order, and that only depended on if he even got the right numbers to begin with. Sighing, he made a mental checklist of all the numbers from the book and exited the library. As he was walking down the hallway, intent on heading to the door with a passcode, he looked ahead and stopped at the sight that greeted him. Near the entrance of the hallway, the humanoid creature from the basement stood, just staring at him.**

"… **N…no way…! T-that monster… Did it really…?!" It slowly began to make its way to where he stood. "…I-it's coming this way…! Crap! I gotta escape!" He stood by the third door down the hall, and quickly ran in the room, but the monster followed after him. It was the room where Sissi had almost fallen, the large hole still in the floor. America ran around the table and stood right by the hole, the monster walked behind him, copying his trail. As the creature made its way towards him, America looked down the hole, coming up with an idea.**

" **Aha! If I drop him down here…!" He walked to the far end of where the hole started and waited until the creature was close enough, so close that he could make out the individual stray strands of hair. The moment it was close enough, he ran behind it and used his full strength to push it forward and into the hole leading to who knows where.**

"… **What is that monster…? So what I saw earlier…! Damn… I can't believe such a thing exists…but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I managed to survive the house of hell before this. But there's no way it's coming back now. The room under is locked tight… I should warn Sissi when I see her. I knew it would be dangerous for her."**

 **He left the room, leaving the hallway as well before heading downstairs and into the left hallway, going to the food storage, or the door with a passcode. The door was at the end of the hall, looking at the key pad, he tried the different combinations he knew. First was 1018, or October, 18 from the book's first chapter. Nothing. How about 1245 the order of the first four chapter he read. Still nothing.**

" **Damn it, what could it be then-wait. The first four chapters were 1245? It was missing chapter 3, and now that I think about, other chapters were missing…3,6…7…and, 9? I think that's it, the code is the missing chapters!" He pressed the numbers in their respective order, and the door unlocked.**

"How did he remember that? All the numbers, what chapters were missing, the order?" England looked impressed at the memorization that his former colony performed.

"He knows more than we give him credit for, mon ami*." France answered. Although England didn't acknowledge the answer, too focused on watching the young country on the screen.

 **America entered the food storage room, there was four large refrigerators against the wall near the top right corner. Next to them was a cabinet filled with dishes and a ladder leaned against the side of it, and to his right was a trash can. Across the room were boxes full of rotted fruits and vegetables, the smell made him a little sick to his stomach, and to the right of the boxes was a sink. As he approached the boxes, something seemed to glint from above him, but it was just out of reach and he wasn't going to even attempt climbing the boxes, either he would possibly fall in one of the boxes getting covered in rotten produce or the boxes wouldn't be able to support his weight because of age. Luckily, there was a ladder for him to use.**

"… **I could use this to get up to that thing." Leaning the ladder against the boxes, he climbed up and received a key from the top. The number** _ **210**_ **inscribed on the metal. There was nothing else to find in the room, so he made his way out, heading upstairs to find** _ **Room 210**_ **. He turned to the right hallway and walked all the way down to the end, unlocking the door and entering. It was the standard hotel room with the table, beds, bathroom and wardrobe however, something laid on the floor at the foot of the beds. America knelt on the floor, inspecting what was on the floor, it looked like something was badly burnt.**

"… **Was this a photo? Looks like it was a woman… Hm, there's something under the pieces…" Underneath the burnt pieces was another scrap of notebook paper, matching the other pieces he had collected so far.**

" _ **I don't need her memory anymore. I know she won't come back, so I have to forget everything, good and bad.**_ **" He stood from his spot, but the moment he did, he clutched his head.**

" **Ack…my head…hurts… Whew, it settled down. Sheesh, I'm exhausted… I guess I haven't slept much… So he burnt this photo to clear his broken heart, huh…I… I know I couldn't do that. Even though I've watched so many people that I've looked up to and care about disappear before my eyes as I live on, I'll never forget…not ever." That was one of the horrible truths of living an immortal life of a country, watching people go from your lives forever. It was hard to not get attached to anyone.**

 **He heard the door open behind him, and he quickly turned around ready to defend himself, but was met with a familiar face.**

"… **! Sissi…"**

" **Oh, there you are, Alfred!" She walked over to him so that they were standing face to face.**

"… **Did you find the box?"**

" **No… I can't find it… There are lots of rooms I can't go in, so it might be in one of them… What's wrong, Alfred? You look kind of pale…"**

" **Oh, it's nothing… But Sissi, you should really leave soon."**

"… **Why?"**

" **You may not believe me, but… There's some kind of bizarre monster around. I found it in the basement… I was attacked by it earlier. You'd definitely be in danger too… So I think you should go."**

" **Look, I don't like dark, scary places either… But there's no need to tease me like that. I'm not a kid afraid of the Boogeyman, okay?"**

"… **Er, sorry. But I'm not trying to tease you! I'm telling the truth!"**

"… **Heehee. Don't worry, I'm not mad. You don't seem like a dishonest guy, so I'd like to believe you, but…a monster…? Maybe you mistook something in the dark? You could be susceptible to seeing things when you wander around in the dark like this."**

"… **I'd like to think you're right… All right, if you insist. But be careful! Okay?"**

" **I know! Well, I'll be looking elsewhere." Sissi then walked across the room, exiting through the door. After a few seconds of silence, America walked out and was heading toward the exit of the hallway, but heard a splashing sound as he passed the bar.**

"… **What?" He could guess what it was, but he had an idea. He pushed open the door and looked around, nobody was in the room. However, straight across from the door on the floor by the wall was a puddle of something. He looked at the red mess, and noticed something.**

" **A message in red…? Was this here before?" It was possible, he only did a scan of the room, but mainly focused on the journal on the table. The, what he could only assume was wine, read:**

" _ **Leave me alone  
Leave me alone  
Come to me  
I'm waiting for you**_ **."**

"… **Sounds pretty inconsistent… Who could've written this?" He didn't have time to think long before he heard an inhuman growl come from behind him. The creature walked in through the door, facing America.**

" **W-why…? I dropped you down a pit! Crap, I gotta do something!" The creature immediately began walking towards him, America went around tables trying to buy time and figure out a plan on what to do. However, as he went around tables, the creature would gain small bursts of speed, almost allowing it to catch up to him. There had to be something he could use, something in this stupid bar that was useful. Wait…a bar meant alcohol, and alcohol was flammable! Making sure to keep an eye on where the creature was, he dug in his pocket until he found the lighter. Next, he grabbed a bottle off one of the tables and made sure it had something in it before turning around and chucking it at the thing.**

" **Damn it! This monster doesn't give up… How about some of this?!" The creature let out a loud shriek of pain, backing away slightly.**

" **I knew that wouldn't do much alone…" However, now it was covered in alcohol now. "Now that he's covered in alcohol, he should be plenty flammable!" America gave a smirk as the creature drew closer, and once it was near, he switched the lighter on before throwing it. The reaction was instantaneous, bright flames spread all over the alcohol covered body of the creature and shrieking soon followed after. Next thing he knew, he saw the creature run out the room, flames and all.**

"… **He ran away… W-whew… What the hell is that thing…?! Why is it chasing me? How did it survive before?! I might need something to defend myself, cause I don't think a lighter will do." He bent down, and picked the lighter up off the ground and put it back in his pocket. The first place that came to mind was the kitchen, he remembered seeing a fruit knife on the sink counter. It wasn't the ideal weapon, but it would have to do for now. He left the bar and headed back downstairs to the left hallway and towards the food storage room at the end of the hall. Entering the room, he walked to the sink and picked up the knife. He wasn't going to carry it the entire time, but it was a knife so it couldn't be put in his pants pocket, he slipped it in his jacket pocket instead.**

 **He walked out, he only managed a few steps before a metallic smell hit his nose. Blood. Glancing ahead, he noticed drops leading in a trail. "B-blood?! This wasn't here earlier… Did…did something happen to Sissi? I'd better look for her…" He continued following the trail, it led him out of the hallway, across the first floor and into the other hall all the way to the second to last door. The door was unlocked, so he pushed it open slowly, peering around the room until he found who he was looking for. Sissi sat on one of the beds facing away from him, the trail of blood ending where she was.**

" **Sissi, what are you doing here? Your arm is bleeding! So it was your blood…Were you hurt?!"**

"… **My arm caught on something. It's not that big of a deal… Don't worry about it."**

" **It's bleeding a lot, though… And you've been resting here, right? What if you have anemia?" America was already looking around the room to find something that he could use as a makeshift bandage.**

"… **I'm just a little tired. I've been walking around a lot… Really, don't worry about it."**

"…" **He moved to the other bed, removing the outer covers and top sheet. He took the white sheet off before ripping it into a long strip of cloth. There was no guarantee that it was clean, but it was all he could do in an abandoned hotel as first aid. "Give me your hand, Sissi. I can use the sheet to wrap it up, the covers protected it from being too unsanitary."**

 **He grabbed her right hand, and slowly began wrapping the white cloth around the wound on her arm, the cloth slowly getting stained red in the process. "…I guess this is better than nothing. Doesn't hurt?"**

" **It's fine." Sissi seemed to be far away when answering, her eyes showing she was miles away. "…Thank you… You're so kind, Alfred."**

"… **You don't seem so well. Did something happen…?" America finished wrapping her arm, tying it off as he waited.**

"… **Oh, it's nothing… I've just been so silly…"**

"… **Silly?"**

"… **It's silly that I'm wandering this dark place all alone, falling in holes, cutting my arm, all to find some measly box…"**

" **Measly…? But it's important, right? A memento from your boyfriend?" America sat on the bed beside her, trying his best to offer comfort to the young woman.**

"… **Well, he's my ex, to be exact."**

"… **.Huh?"**

"… **He left me quite a while ago… But while we were dating, this hotel was our special place. That was when I lost the box… I've been worried about it ever since, but I only just worked up the courage to come look. I thought I could forget everything about him… But it was no good. Coming here brought back all these memories…"**

"… **Why did you break up?" The question slipped before he could stop himself, that obviously wasn't something you asked a person who was upset about said break up.**

"… **I don't know… Maybe that's why I won't give up… He said he appreciated my kindness… But when we broke up, he said it was 'all I had.' And he was exactly right, so I couldn't reply… I really am a sissy… No wonder he'd break up with me… Even I'd hate a girl like me… Sorry, I know I'm just annoying you. I'll rest here a while longer… I'm a little dizzy. Thanks for your help, Alfred… Oh, I found this. I'm not sure where it goes, though." Sissi handed a key to America, he held the key for a minute before slowly putting it in his pocket.**

" **Thanks…Don't strain yourself, okay? Well, I'm going…" He gave her one last glance before leaving the room. He stood outside in the hallway, leaning against the door, caught up in a memory.**

'… _ **Why are you always like this, Alfred?**_ **'**

'… _ **Like…like what?**_ **'**

'… _ **You're always such a yes man. Just going with the flow… Don't you have a personality?**_ **'**

'… _ **I don't mean to. I mean, I try to think for myself…**_ **'**

'… _ **I don't see it that way. You're not kind. You're just indecisive…It would be the same with anyone, right? That's why I can't trust you.**_ **'**

'… _ **Look, please just listen… If I'm a pain, then I'm sorry.**_ **'**

' _ **There you go again, thinking you can just apologize and everything will be fine… You don't understand a word I'm saying.**_ **'**

'… _ **Th…then what should I do? You just don't trust me, is that it?!**_ **'**

' _ **I hate to say it to you considering you're so young and have no proper parents, but you need to grow up… You need to pick a side to be on, we are going to war, and we don't want someone we can't trust…**_ **'**

' **That conversation I had when I was younger with one of the civilians in the town made me change sides and to go to war with England. That man made me feel like I wasn't going to be treated as anything but a child with the way I acted. I wanted to prove that I wasn't a mindless soldier and wanted to be treated equally…that was the hardest decision I ever had to make.' America thought to himself.**

"…' **Kindness is all you have'… Sissi and I are the same like that. Timidly refusing to forget… The moment I felt like I was disappointing my people, I felt like I was nothing but worthless… I wonder if Sissi felt that way too?"**

 **Putting the memory back to deep recesses of his mind, America focused on locating what door the key Sissi handed him would go to. There was a locked door beside the owner's room, maybe it went there. He exited the hall and went around the front desk to the left door, putting the key in and unlocking the door. The door led to what seemed like behind the hotel as he was now outside. There was a water fountain that had two benches on either side of it. The flower beds that were against the hotel's wall were overgrown, much like most of the yard with weeds everywhere and the grass reaching to America's knees. He approached the fountain, taking notice of the green water in it. However, there was a shadowed part of the water, something was in the water. He rolled up his sleeves and reached in, grabbed whatever it was and pulled it out. In his hands was a box, it had flowers painted on the top, surprisingly, it was in good condition for being submerged in water for who knows how long.**

" **Ah! A box…? Maybe this is the one Sissi lost… It must be! It's decorated with rubies… Did someone throw it away here or what? Man, I'm glad I found it… I'll get this to Sissi pronto!" He carried it under his arm back inside and placed it on the front desk. "I'll just put it here cause I know this is an easy place to remember, if I left it in one of the rooms, I'd hate myself."**

 **After putting the box down, he headed back to the room where Sissi was. Upon entering the room, he noticed no one inside. "Huh…? Did Sissi leave? But she's wounded…" A loud scream was his answer. "Sissi?!"**

 **It sounded like it came from upstairs. He passed the front desk, the box still where he placed it before going up the stairs and into the lounge. "Sissi?!" When he walked in, he saw Sissi against the wall with the creature advancing towards her.**

"… **Ah…ahhhh… No…nooo… Stay away…!" America ran forward in between Sissi and the monster before he gave a big shove in the monster's direction, pushing it back a couple feet.**

" **Stop right there! Back off, monster!"**

" **Alfred!"**

"… **Damn it… Sissi, get out of the hotel!"**

" **A-Alfred? What are you..?!"**

" **I said run away! I'll take care of this!" He pulled out the knife from his pocket, focusing the monster's attention on him. "Hey! Monster! I don't know what the hell you are! But don't you lay a finger on Sissi!" Taking the chance to escape, Sissi ran along the sides of the walls and around the two and out the door.**

 **All he had was a small knife, so if he wanted to do damage then he would have to get close to it. He waited, and swiped a few times before having to jump back to avoid getting hit. Much like in the bar, it would get small bursts of speed to try and catch him. He kept going back and forth with attacking and jumping back. He would have to run around the tables to avoid getting attacked, but couldn't risk jumping over them and having his attention not on the monster. Finally, he slashed at it one more time, and it let out a loud shriek. It hadn't moved afterwards, so exhaustedly, America dropped the knife to the floor with a clatter. He left the room, going downstairs to the entrance and was about to walk out until he remembered the box he left on the front desk. The hotel register was right next to it, open with a blank space available for the next guest. He grabbed the pen and signed his name,** _ **Alfred F. Jones**_ **.**

 **Sissi sat on the hotel's front steps, arms wrapped around her knees. "…Alfred…" Almost like he heard his name being called, America walked out past the steps, box under his arm. "Alfred!"**

 **Sissi stood and hurried up to America, "Alfred! Are you okay?!"**

" **Yeah… I don't think it'll chase us anymore. Never mind me, are you okay?"**

"… **I'm fine… I'm not hurt… But…" She collapsed to her knees on the ground, America kneeling beside her in a moment.**

"… **Sissi?! What's wrong…? Are you sick?!"**

"… **Why…why did this happen? Why did I have to go through this…? Why did a monster attack me? I… I just didn't want to forget him… I just wanted to have my memory of him! Is it because I'm such a wimp… Is that why this happened…?! Can I…can I not even love him…?! No… I hate it… Someone…somebody, help!" Tears ran down her face as her hands constantly tried to wipe them away.**

"… **Sissi… What's wrong with being a wimp?"**

"… **Huh…?"**

"… **You may feel like a sissy for not being able to forget him, but… Is that such a bad thing?"**

"… **Alfred…? You too…?"**

" **I know the feeling, I was…dejected. Even now it still pains me… I don't think I can truly forget it. I've…always hated how I was such a coward. I'm a miserable excuse for a man, especially in romance if it helps… But looking at you, I've come to think… Maybe it's not bad to keep thinking of the same person? In fact, maybe it's a wonderful thing. I decided… I wouldn't give up either… And it's thanks to you, Sissi… Thank you."**

"… **Alfred…" He helped her off the ground and once they were both standing, he offered her the box he found in the fountain.**

" **This is your treasure, right? It's quite the box… It would be a shame to throw it away. Take good care of it, okay? I'm sure the one you love will understand. And I know I'll always support you."**

" **Thank you, Alfred… I… I'll try a little harder… I hope things go well for you too… Hey, Alfred? Did the box…come with a key?"**

"… **A key? No… I didn't see one…"**

" **Strange… The box needs a key to open, so… Though I didn't lock it…"**

" **A key… Wait, hold on…" He dug in his pockets until he found what he was looking for. "Maybe this brass key… Haha, nah, of course not…"**

" **Ah! Yes, that's the one! Where did you find it?"**

" **Wha?! R-really…? Er, I picked it up…around here…"**

' **A key from my apartment opens Sissi's box… So the former tenant's involved with the box…? What does that mean?...'**

" **I wonder why it was locked? Let's open it!" She put the key in the lock and turned, after hearing a click, she opened the box. "…Oh? There's a piece of paper…"**

" **That's… Sissi, can I look at that?" She handed the paper over to him. "I thought so… It matches the notebook pages… Which means he…"**

"… **I don't get it, but I guess the guy you're looking for put this paper in here?"**

" **Seems that way. It has an address on it…"**

" **Are you going there, Alfred?"**

"… **Yeah. He wasn't here… So I'll check there next."**

"… **Okay… Be careful."**

" **I'll escort you home, Sissi. It's dark out, after all."**

" **I'll be alright! Thanks though, Alfred. Well…" She started walking away, America stayed where he was as he watched her go. She stopped though, but he didn't have time to think as she ran back and gave him a kiss on the cheek, pulling him down so she could reach, a blush gathered on his face. "I'm REALLY thankful, Alfred! Let's see each other again sometime!" And then she continued walking away, leaving him to his thoughts, the blush slowly fading.**

" **T…That surprised me… Haha… But she seems happier now…That's good… I feel a little more relaxed myself…"**

" _ **Lingering Scent of Dreams**_ **…? Is this where he is? I'll go check it out. I've come this far… Until I see him… I'll go anywhere. "**

 **He began the walk back to his car in silence.**

There wasn't much to be said among the countries, it was just shocking taking all this information in at once. However, there was one thing that was going through their minds, they were definitely going to talk to America about this the moment they got the chance.

It honestly felt like the tunnel would never end for Canada, he just kept walking and seeing more animal like creations. He did learn one thing though, despite the fact that they looked like animals, they only made different tones from an instrument, but he didn't know what though.

"Okay, I'm about to just sit down cause all this walking is killing me." He spoke a moment too soon as his foot kick something across the ground a couple inches. "Hm? What's this?" He reached down and picked up a two pronged piece of metal, a tuning fork. Suddenly, a thought came to mind. He kneeled down on the ground and lightly tapped it with the tuning fork. The sounds that rung out sounded a lot like the noises the 'animals' made when he passed by them.

"Great, I've been dragged into the unknown…sounds like Al alright. I just hope he's okay and that I can find my way out of wherever I am." He pocketed the tuning fork, before continuing his way straight ahead. Maybe, just maybe he would reach some different location that would lead him to an escape.

To be continued…

Translations:

Bruder- Brother [German]

Mon ami- My friend [French]

 **TheObsessedWriter: Thank you for reading, and yes there wasn't much of the other countries in this one, but I felt like they would have been really trying to pay attention to this creature encounter as a lot more was happening. And as you can tell, Canada is in a situation of his own which you shall all find out in time, and you haven't seen the last of him in America's story either. Remember that I'm still taking requests for stories.**

 **IF THERE IS A STORY OR HORROR GAME THAT YOU KNOW OF AND WOULD LIKE TO APPEAR IN ONE OF THIS STORY'S CHAPTER, PLEASE PM ME OR LEAVE THE NAME IN A REVIEW. I MIGHT HAVE TO CHANGE A COUPLE DETAILS SO THAT IT WILL FIT THE CHARACTER(S), BUT I WILL DO MY BEST TO INCLUDE ALL ENTRYS.**

 **TheObsessedWriter: Please leave a review or request, and I shall see you in the next chapter! And I'm sorry for taking so long writing each chapter, but I try to make sure all the details are right before publishing.**


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